Read Star Trek: That Which Divides Online
Authors: Dayton Ward
Betria continued to study his scanner, making adjustments on the unit’s control panel before saying, “Commander, I believe I have located an entrance to the underground facility.” He pointed toward the hill. “It’s where the humans were running.”
“Of course it is,” Vathrael said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she started walking in that direction. She paid no heed to the movements of her subordinates as
they fell into step behind her, though she noted that they at least had the presence of mind to spread out into a formation that would offer some protection in the event of an ambush.
As she drew closer to the foot of the hillside, Vathrael saw a narrow opening, all but invisible from the plateau behind them, between two of the larger rock formations. Eyeing the ground at the base of the rocks, she detected signs of the massive stones having been moved to their present position. They seemed far too large to have been levered out of the way without some form of aid or mechanical assistance. As for the gap itself, there was almost nothing visible beyond the threshold save for the darkness beckoning to her.
“A concealed entrance,” she said, more to herself than to the centurions behind her. “Some kind of automated mechanism to move the stones aside and admit entry, but why not close it to prevent us from entering?” Had the massive door somehow malfunctioned? Without any order from Vathrael, another of her soldiers, Centurion Drixus, stepped toward the opening, his weapon arm extended as he advanced.
Behind her, Betria said, “I am detecting no life-forms near the entrance, Commander.” Now standing in front of the opening and using his body to shield hers, Drixus looked over his shoulder at her, waiting for instructions.
Vathrael nodded, her right hand coming to rest on the pommel of her own holstered disruptor. “Proceed, with caution.” Following Drixus, she passed between the two large boulders and into the narrow gap. Once past that portal, she noted how the passage began to widen once they moved beyond the entrance. The darkness that seemed to
shroud the opening was broken by a string of small, round light fixtures set into the tunnel’s stone ceiling. The lights themselves varied in color, all soft hues and just enough illumination to proceed farther into the passageway. Vathrael noticed a soft, faint hum coming from the fixtures themselves, the noise amplified in the passage’s narrow confines. It was cooler here as well, with a slight yet still perceptible breeze emanating from somewhere down the tunnel. Perhaps ventilation from a subterranean environmental control system? That was yet another question for which Vathrael hoped to find an answer.
A deep rumbling sound from behind her made Vathrael flinch, and she whirled to look in that direction, pulling her disruptor from its holster and extending her weapon arm toward the source of the sound. The three centurions who had been walking behind her were lunging forward, deeper into the tunnel, as the slice of light denoting the entrance from the surface began to narrow.
“Get away from there!” she yelled as the gap continued to close, and a moment later it vanished as though it had never existed. In response to the closure, the lighting within the tunnel increased, bringing the passageway’s stone walls, floor, and ceiling into sharp relief. Turning to look down the sloping tunnel, she saw other shafts of light beginning to activate from within the walls. Power relays? Computer interface terminals? There was no way to know, at least not with the information she currently possessed.
“We’re trapped,” Betria said, holding up his scanner to emphasize his comment. “I am unable to read anything beyond the entrance.”
Drawing a deep breath, Vathrael forced herself to maintain her composure. Despite the lighting’s soothing
effects, she still noted her odd twinge of apprehension as she regarded the enclosed space ahead of her. It was a fear that had stalked her since childhood, and even the
fvheisn
spent aboard the cramped confines of imperial warships had done little to help her surmount what she knew to be illogical angst.
Enough
, she chided herself, ashamed that she had allowed the infantile sensation to impede her thinking even for a moment. “The door was closed,” she said, “so it can be opened again, either by us or by those who closed it. All we have to do is find the mechanism to do that.” Getting there likely would be difficult, of course, but the alternative was to stand here and do nothing, and Vathrael had never been one for such inaction. Her only concern was the loss of stealth; the Starfleet group had to know she and her people were here. Were they able to somehow monitor the complex’s interior? “Betria, is your scanner able to detect any human life signs?”
After taking a moment to study the information being collected and displayed by the unit, the centurion shook his head. “Readings are indistinct, Commander, at least at a distance. I believe that some of the minerals in the surrounding rock have properties which interfere with my scans. However, I believe I’ll be able to isolate their location the farther we move into the installation.”
Vathrael nodded, only somewhat concerned with the report. Her years in command long ago had taught her to enter any potentially dangerous situation with the understanding that anything that might go wrong or present an obstacle was likely to make itself known. Such thinking tended to reduce surprises or the frustration that often came about as a result of being too reliant on a
well-considered plan and not allowing for the realities of actual engagement with an enemy.
“Very well,” she said before turning her attention to the fourth member of her party, Subcommander Atrelis. “It appears you’ll get your chance to study whatever alien technology we find, if for no other reason than so that we might be able to report our discovery to our superiors.”
The subcommander, a tall, thin soldier with dark hair, a thin, angular face, and thick, severely upswept eyebrows, nodded. “I accept that challenge, Commander,” he said, his lips pressing into a small tight grin.
“Let’s hope your confidence is not misplaced,” Vathrael replied. Turning from the science officer, she made her way back down the tunnel until she came abreast of Drixus. The centurion, to his credit, stood where he had been since they had first entered the passageway, his weapon aiming down the long, narrow tunnel, on guard for any potential threat. Vathrael reached up to place a hand on his shoulder. “You are unwavering in your duty, Centurion, but whatever we are to face down here, I shall face it first.”
Drixus nodded. “And I shall face it with you, Commander.”
Comforted by the centurion’s statement of loyalty, Vathrael stepped past him and began making her way down the tunnel, doing her best not to dwell on the feeling that the stone walls already were beginning to press in around her.
Reaching an intersection in the underground passage, Kirk, for perhaps the fourth time—he had lost count—brought his communicator to his mouth and called into it, “Kirk to Spock. Are you there?”
“
Spock here, Captain
,” the Vulcan replied. Was it Kirk’s
imagination, or was there more static clouding the connection now than there had been earlier in the day?
“Close the surface entrance to the complex. Romulan intruders are following us, and we can’t let them get in here.” He had tried and failed to close the entrance and reactivate its electronic shroud before he and Sortino were forced to flee deeper into the subterranean complex. The only hope now was that Spock could carry out that task from the control room. Kirk had no desire to try and fight the Romulans, outnumbered at least two and perhaps even three or four to one. A deep rumble echoed from somewhere back the way they had come, and Kirk sighed in momentary relief, realizing that Spock was acting on his instructions.
“Nothing says at least a few of them didn’t get inside before it closed,” Sortino said, a bit out of breath from the extended dash from the surface. “We need to keep moving, and get to the control room.”
Kirk paused, catching his breath as he replayed the events on the surface. How long had it been since he and the ambassador had sprinted for the opening of the Kalandan complex, dodging disruptor fire as the Romulans transported to the plateau from an unknown origin point and gave chase? No more than three minutes, he decided, which likely meant only one thing.
“If they’re already in here,” he said. “They’ll be trying to follow us.” With his phaser, he gestured back the way they had come. “There are other tunnels and side passages. Most of them lead to chambers with no other exits, but we haven’t had a chance to check them all. We have to go back and stop them from getting too far down here, before they find something they might be able to use against us.”
Indeed, the more he pondered that line of thought, the angrier he grew with himself for not considering the possibility earlier, when he and Sortino could have taken more direct preventive action against their Romulan pursuers.
As though resigning herself to the situation, Sortino blew out her breath and tucked one of the phasers she had taken from the
Galileo
into her waistband. Holding up the second weapon, she appeared to check its power setting before returning her gaze to Kirk. “All right, then,” she said. “Let’s get this over with.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kirk grinned. “You’re beginning to sound a lot like Doctor McCoy, Ambassador.”
“If we’re going to keep getting into firefights with Romulans,” Sortino said, “you should probably start calling me Dana.”
Shrugging, Kirk said, “Only if you call me Jim.”
“Fair enough.”
Leading the way back up the tunnel, Kirk wished he had thought to retrieve a tricorder from the
Galileo
before escaping back to the complex. That in turn made him wonder about the status of the two shuttlecraft outside, and whether the Romulans might take the time to ransack the vehicles in search of any valuable equipment or information they thought either ship might possess.
I doubt it
, he decided.
All the fun is down here
.
Arriving at a T-junction in the passageway, Kirk paused, holding up his free hand and signaling for Sortino to remain silent. He inched his way forward, pressing his back against the stone wall and holding his phaser near his chest. Was it his imagination, or had a fleeting shadow played across the wall on the opposite side of the junction?
Something that sounded like cloth or leather against rock was just audible over the low drone of the overhead lighting. Kirk held his breath, straining to listen for other telltale signs of someone in the tunnel, but there was nothing. Still, instinct told him that he and Sortino were not alone here, and when he looked at her he saw that her features, obscured by shadow, were clouded with a suspicion he was sure matched his own.
Here goes nothing
.
Kirk dropped to one knee as he leaned into the junction, bringing up his phaser and firing without even bothering to aim the weapon. The vivid blue streak of energy lit up the corridor, throwing into sharp relief the rock walls as well as the female Romulan officer standing no less than twenty meters away. She ducked to her right as the phaser beam struck the wall behind her, and Kirk noted four other shadow-laden figures lunging for cover in the passageway as he pulled himself back to safety. No sooner was he out of the way than a pair of disruptor bolts screamed past them, their shrill whines all but deafening in the tunnel as they drilled into the wall at the back of the junction. Kirk pushed Sortino in the direction of the passage leading deeper into the complex.
“Go!” he spat, back-stepping as he held his phaser out in front of him. Shadows undulated from the other tunnel, growing larger and more distinct. Kirk took aim at the lighting fixture illuminating the corridor junction and fired. The effect was immediate, destroying the lamp and evoking cries of shock from at least two of the Romulans.
Sortino yelled, “Come on!”
When he turned to run after her, he saw that the ambassador had taken up station at another bend in the
passage, bracing herself against the wall as she aimed her phaser back the way they had come. “We’ve got to get to the others!”
Voices from beyond the intersection were growing louder with each passing moment as Kirk directed Sortino deeper into the tunnel. How far from the surface had they come? How much closer were they to the control room? Reaching for the small of his back, he grabbed his communicator and flipped it open as he continued his jog down the passageway.
“Kirk to Spock!”
This time, the Vulcan’s response was immediate even though the quality of the signal was still lacking. “
Spock here, Captain. Are you all right?
”
“We’re coming your way, Spock,” Kirk replied, “and we’re being chased by Romulans, so be ready for us.”
“
Acknowledged, Captain
,” replied the first officer. “
You should also be aware that we are detecting the activation of several dormant systems within the Kalandan computer network.
” There was a pause before he added, “
We are not yet able to ascertain their exact purpose, but indications are that they are connected to the system’s security protocols. Logic suggests there may be something taking place in response to the Romulan intruders, as well as weapons fire within the complex.
”
“
Blast your logic, Spock!
” shouted McCoy’s voice from somewhere in the background. Then, as though the doctor had moved closer to Spock, he added, “
He’s trying to say watch your back, Jim! You may have honked off something out there. Get the hell back here!
”
“We’re working on it, Doctor,” Kirk snapped, images and memories from the other Kalandan outpost rushing
forth in response to Spock’s new information. He pushed all of that aside. There would be time to deal with it later.
Maybe.
Three more turns in the corridor, and Kirk was just realizing that he now recognized where he was when a figure stepped into the tunnel ahead of them. Kirk’s first instinct to raise his phaser and fire was quelled as he identified Spock. Lieutenant Ross Johnson and Ensign Nick Minecci, two security personnel who had accompanied the science officer from the
Enterprise
, emerged into the passage as Kirk and Sortino came abreast of them.