Chain of Attack Read online

"Good Lord, man! I'm not asking for an oath signed in blood! All I'm asking is if you think you'll be able to get to the bottom of this before you run out of probes!"

  "With no more data than I have at present, it would be illogical to form an opinion one way or the other, Doctor."

  McCoy, who had moved away from the science station during the exchange, stifled a laugh and, when Kirk glanced at him, could only shake his head. He was obviously enjoying Crandall's frustration, all the more because he himself had so often collided with Spock's implacable wall of logic.

  Then, abruptly, another shudder rippled through the Enterprise, not as powerful as the first but enough to send both of Crandall's hands clutching at the padded railing.

  "What—" he began, but before he could get a second word out, Spock was checking his instruments and reporting.

  "The field strength has decreased to zero, Captain."

  "It's gone, Spock? The area of turbulence has disappeared?"

  "Precisely, Captain."

  "And the so-called anomaly at its center?"

  "Unknown, Captain. I would suggest dispatching another probe."

  Kirk considered a moment before turning to face the viewscreen again. "Take us back to within probe range, Mr. Sulu. Warp factor two."

  "Warp factor two, sir."

  "Any indication of renewed turbulence, Mr. Spock?" Kirk asked, his own eyes fastened to the forward viewscreen.

  "None, Captain."

  Finally they were once more within one hundred thousand kilometers of the anomaly, and Spock's fingers were moving unerringly across the controls of the auxiliary panel that was linked to the probes. As before, the probe would be beamed to within five thousand kilometers of the anomaly using the cargo transporter. From that point, it would proceed under its own impulse power into the anomaly.

  Even so, several minutes went by before Spock looked up from the controls.

  "The so-called anomaly has vanished, too, Captain."

  "And what does that mean, Spock?" Crandall cut in. During the seemingly interminable wait, he had alternately stood and paced, fidgeting and frowning impatiently all the while.

  "It means precisely what I said, Doctor," Spock said. "The anomaly associated with this particular area of gravitational turbulence appears to have vanished at the same time as the turbulence itself."

  "What about the others? There are a dozen others nearby, aren't there?"

  "There were fifteen in all, Doctor. There is no way of knowing their status without traveling to the vicinity of each and checking."

  "Well, what are you waiting for?" Crandall demanded.

  "Captain?"

  "Your opinion, Mr. Spock?" Kirk asked.

  "It would seem logical to check at least one of those we have already visited, Captain, to see if the disappearance is limited to this one anomaly."

  Crandall heaved a sigh of annoyed relief. "And if it's gone, too, then I assume we will be heading back to the Federation. It seems to me, considering the total lack of useful results obtained so far, we have wasted quite enough time on this project. Kirk?"

  "As you have said, Dr. Crandall, you are an observer," Kirk said, his tone nearly as neutral and precise as Spock's. Then, turning back to the forward viewscreen: "Lay in a course that will take us to all six previously visited anomalies, Mr. Sulu. And Mr. Spock, keep an eye on those new instruments. We don't want another unscheduled trip."

  "Of course, Captain," Spock said, and a moment later Sulu acknowledged that the requested course had been laid in.

  "Cautiously, then, Mr. Sulu. Warp factor two."

  "Warp factor two, Captain."

  On the forward viewscreen, the distant Shapley Center slid to one side and vanished as the Enterprise turned and aligned itself for its new destination. In a few seconds, only the scattered stars of the outer edge of the Sagittarius arm of the galaxy could be seen, and beyond them the faint band of light that was the Orion arm, one tiny patch of which held all the stars within the Federation.

  "How long will this—this exercise in futility take, Kirk?" Crandall snapped, a new level of hostility evident in his voice.

  "The original observations were scheduled to take three standard weeks."

  "But if there's nothing left to observe—"

  "Then perhaps it will take somewhat less time."

  "Perhaps? Good Lord, man, do you mean to say—"

  "I mean only to say," Kirk cut in, "that this disappearance merely deepens the mystery surrounding the nature of these anomalies, and that I can see no reason to cut short our mission until we have learned all that we possibly can."

  "Commendable scientific curiosity, I am sure, Kirk, but rather pointless, it seems to me. In any event, I postponed important business to become a part of this mission, and I strenuously object to having it prolonged unreasonably. That is to say, beyond a point at which useful knowledge can be obtained. A point which, I might add, appears to have been reached some time ago."

  "You are, of course, free to contact Starfleet Command at any time, Doctor. Lieutenant Uhura will be glad to open a channel whenever you wish."

  Crandall's square features hardened as his jaw muscles tensed, and Kirk imagined he could hear the grinding of teeth. Then Crandall slumped slightly, confirming Kirk's suspicions that friendship with the people at Starfleet Command was not the reason Crandall was aboard. He or his political friends had pulled strings somewhere, and Starfleet Command had obliged, as they often did in small matters that did not interfere with Starfleet activities. The string pulling had gotten him aboard the Enterprise, in a position to take advantage of any significant discoveries that resulted from the use of his lab's sensors, but that was all it had gotten him. And even that might be lost if he pushed his luck.

  "I may do that, Kirk," Crandall said. "If this nonsense continues much longer, I may do just that." But both men knew it was an empty threat.

  Kirk remained silent, and finally Crandall turned to leave the bridge. But as he took a step forward toward the turbolift, another shudder gripped the Enterprise. Compared to the two previous incidents, it was almost unnoticeable, not even enough to cause Crandall to miss a step.

  A moment later, however, Chekov's voice, high-pitched with excitement, sliced through the air. "The screen, sir! Look!"

  Kirk spun the command chair instantly to face the viewscreen.

  He blinked, and fingers of ice suddenly gripped his spine.

  Instead of the sparse stars of the edge of the Sagittarius arm, there were stars by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, a star field immeasurably brighter and more dense than anyone on the bridge had ever seen.

  Chapter Two

  "FULL STOP, MR. SULU," Kirk snapped. "Maintain present position. Mr. Chekov, determine precisely our present position with respect to the point at which we first appeared in this sector."

  The helmsman and the navigator responded instantly, their fingers working the controls even as they acknowledged the commands.

  "Spock, full sensor scan."

  "No vessels in sensor range, Captain. Radiation, though markedly higher, presents no danger."

  "Kirk!" Crandall's strident voice overrode everyone else's. "Would someone please tell me what the blazes is going on!"

  "We'll tell you as soon as we find out ourselves. Spock, any idea where we are?"

  "Not yet, Captain. There is—"

  "Kirk! I demand to know—"

  "Dr. Crandall, please leave the bridge. Return to your quarters."

  "Now see here, Kirk! Who do you think you are? I am, in effect, a representative of the Council itself, and I demand civil answers to my questions!"

  "We do not have time for your demands at the moment, Dr. Crandall," Kirk said sharply, punching a button on the command chair arm as he spoke.

  "Security detail to the bridge immediately. Escort Dr. Crandall to his quarters."

  Crandall's face reddened, and he turned abruptly to the communications station. "Lieutenant, open a channel to Starfleet
Command! At once!"

  Uhura looked questioningly at Captain Kirk. "Continue monitoring all frequencies, Lieutenant," he said. "Attempt no communications with Starfleet Command or anyone else at this time."

  "Kirk, I'll have your head for this! If you don't—"

  The turbolift doors hissed open, disgorging a twoperson security detail.

  "Escort Dr. Crandall to his quarters," Kirk said, confirming his order. "Make sure he stays there. I'll inform you when he is to be allowed to leave."

  Crandall resisted for a moment, but then, blustering a final threat, he allowed himself to be propelled into the turbolift.

  "As you were saying, Mr. Spock?" Kirk asked, turning back to the science officer.

  "Yes, Captain. There is an area that appears to be the Shapley Center directly ahead, though the computer has not yet positively identified it. If it is indeed the Shapley Center, we have been transported at least five thousand parsecs."

  "Five thousand?"

  "Affirmative, Captain. We are approximately five thousand parsecs closer to this object than we were to the Shapley Center. Of course, if it is not the Shapley Center, then we could well have traveled much farther."

  Kirk was silent a moment before turning back to the screen. "Mr. Chekov, have you located our—our point of entry into the sector of space?"

  "I believe so, sir."

  "Very well. Mr. Sulu, take us to within a half-A.U. and hold there. Warp factor two."

  Again the view on the forward screen shifted, but now it was as if the Enterprise were turning within a heavy curtain of stars. In every direction, the brightness and density were the same.

  "Mr. Spock, prepare to launch a probe directly at our point of entry."

  "Prepared, Captain."

  "Launch the probe, Mr. Spock."

  "It is being transported…now, Captain."

  "And while we're waiting for the results, Mr. Spock, see if you can find out where we are."

  Spock turned again to the data displays. "The computer has been performing a more detailed analysis of the radiation profile of the object that appeared similar to the Shapley Center," he said, pausing to study a set of readouts more closely. "There appear to be a number of basic differences in the spectrum," he added.

  "Could the differences be accounted for by the time difference? We are, after all, more than fifteen thousand light-years closer."

  "Negative, Captain. Certain of the readings indicate precisely the opposite. The spectrum indicates that the central black hole, for example, is less massive than that of the Shapley Center by a factor of nearly ten, not marginally more massive, as would be the case had we come five thousand parsecs closer. And there are other, independent indications that argue against this object's being the Shapley Center."

  "And those are, Mr. Spock?" Kirk prompted when Spock paused to scan a new set of readings.

  "The computer has also been scanning for recognizable extragalactic objects since we arrived, Captain. Few external galaxies are visible from within this cluster of stars, but among those few, it has found none that it can positively identify."

  "What you're saying, then, Mr. Spock," Kirk said after three or four seconds of silence, "is that, first, we are no longer in the Milky Way galaxy. And second, the computer has not been able to determine what galaxy we are in."

  "Precisely, Captain."

  Though no one did more than glance at Spock and the captain for a fraction of a second, the bridge was suddenly totally silent except for the ever-present hums and beeps of the equipment and the ship itself. There was no panic, no wild questions or howls of disbelief. Instead, after allowing only a moment to inwardly acknowledge Spock's confirmation of what they had already begun to suspect, everyone concentrated all the harder on his or her instruments, knowing that such concentration and the ability to react instantly and effectively could very well be, as it had been so often before, the key to their survival.

  "I don't suppose," Kirk said after a good thirty seconds of silence, "that the missing probe is somewhere in this neighborhood, too."

  "It has not been detected, Captain."

  "Any theories, Mr. Spock?"

  "Only the obvious one, Captain. Despite the sensors' failure to detect the characteristic gravitational turbulence, the Enterprise has passed through one of the so-called anomalies."

  Kirk nodded. "I'd assumed as much. How does this affect your hunch, your unquantifiable possibility?"

  "I would say it raises it to the level of a probability, Captain, although it remains unquantifiable." Spock paused, his eyes on the data displays. "The new probe is approaching our point of entry." Another pause, and then: "It has passed through our point of entry and has vanished from our sensors."

  "And still no indication of gravitational turbulence?"

  "None, Captain."

  "What are the odds that if we follow the probe we'll end up back where we started?"

  "Unknown, Captain. I would say, however, that whatever the odds may be, they are better than for any other method of return."

  "I realize that, Spock. Even if we were no farther away than the Andromeda galaxy, and even if the Enterprise could maintain warp eight indefinitely, we would still be several lifetimes away from the Federation."

  "Precisely, Captain. As I see it, logic gives us no choice but to make the attempt."

  "Agreed. Objections, anyone? Bones? Sulu? Uhura? Chekov?"

  No one spoke.

  "Very well. Mr. Sulu, do your best to duplicate our flight path in reverse. Warp factor two, I believe it was."

  "Correct, sir. Ready to execute on your command."

  "Execute."

  The starbow resulting from achieving relativistic velocity was always spectacular, but never more so than here in this massive concentration of stars. Even so, it went virtually unnoticed as all eyes waited for the sudden alteration in the star field that would indicate they were back in Treaty territory.

  But the change didn't come.

  "Time, Mr. Spock?"

  "We passed through the entry point two-pointseven seconds ago, Captain."

  "Then why—Mr. Chekov, how close were we to retracing our original flight path?"

  "Maximum error of two hundred kilometers, Keptin."

  "Spock, could the anomaly have been smaller than that? Could we simply have missed it?"

  "Anything is possible, Captain. Since the seven for which we have observational data were all greater than five thousand kilometers in diameter, however, it seems unlikely."

  "As you say, anything is possible. Mr. Sulu, take us back. Again."

  They tried five more times, and each time the failure of the star field to change was greeted by a deeper silence. They even launched a series of probes, but, unlike the first, not a one vanished or even so much as flickered.

  Then someone laughed. It was Ensign Rostofski, one of the newest members of the crew. By coincidence a friend of Chekov's family, Rostofski manned the environmental station but seemed to spend much of his off-duty time trying to convince Chekov that he could lose his accent if only he would really try.

  "Something amusing, Ensign?" the captain asked quietly.

  "Not really, sir. I was just thinking what Dr. Crandall was going to say when he finds out."

  Kirk found himself smiling, but then, with a shake of his head, his expression sobered. He turned again to Spock.

  "Theories, Mr. Spock? Where did the anomaly—socalled anomaly—go?"

  "Unknown, Captain. It could be anywhere. It may have gone out of existence entirely. Without the gravitational turbulence normally associated with them, there is no way of detecting them."

  "And our chances of locating it again?"

  "Also unknown, Captain. There is no data on which to base such a calculation. I should also point out that, even if we are successful in locating it, there is no guarantee that it would return us to our starting point."

  "But it is our only chance."

  "The only chance of which we are cur
rently aware, Captain."

  "I stand corrected." Abruptly Kirk pressed the button that connected him to engineering. "Mr. Scott, to the bridge."

  "Aye, Captain, in a minute. One o' the transporter circuits needs a wee bit o'—"

  "Now, Mr. Scott."

  A brief pause, perhaps half a second, and then: "Aye, Captain, I'm on my way."

  Kirk stood up and moved to the science station, looking at the flickering displays that, though often meaningless to him, seemed sometimes a physical extension of Spock's mind, so quickly could the Vulcan call up the needed data and interpret it.

  "What about Crandall, Jim?" McCoy asked, joining the other two.

  Kirk sighed briefly. "Later, Bones. When you have a sedative ready for him."

  The turbolift doors hissed open, and Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott emerged onto the bridge, lurching to a halt as his eyes fell on the fog of stars that filled the forward viewscreen. Kirk quickly outlined the situation and then asked, "Is everything in top shape, Scotty? Our little jaunt hasn't knocked any bolts loose this time?"

  "None that I know of, Captain. The transporter circuit that was needin' adjustment, that was no' the fault o' what you say happened to us just now."

  "Very well, gentlemen, I'm open to suggestions, any suggestions. Mr. Spock? A few minutes ago you said something to the effect that the possibility that these so-called anomalies were something other than natural phenomena had been enhanced by our recent encounter. Would you care to elaborate?"

  "Of course, Captain, though I feel obliged to point out again that the possibility, though enhanced, is still unquantifiable, as is nearly everything we have thus far encountered in connection with these phenomena."

  "Understood, Spock. Go on."

  "Very well, Captain. First, if we assume that the phenomena were deliberately created by sentient beings, then we must assume they had a purpose in creating them. Second, the most obvious purpose, considering the one property these phenomena share, would be to serve as a form of transportation."

  "Logical enough, Spock," McCoy said, "but I thought you said these things were just plain illogical, which was why you thought they were artificial in the first place."

  "Correct, Doctor, but allow me to continue. If we assume their purpose to be transportation, then two further assumptions logically follow. First, despite what we have so far observed, there would have to be some form of consistency designed into them. And second, they should be easily approachable, not concealed at the center of a maze of gravitational turbulence that is capable of tearing a starship to pieces."