Crisis of Consciousness Read Online Free Page B

resonance familiar to Kirk which he couldn’t quite place.
    Glancing to Spock, the captain found the Vulcan raising a curious brow.
    The captain motioned to Uhura. “Patch me in.” She touched a button, nodded at Kirk, and he began, “This is Captain James T. Kirk of —”
    Clearly dismissive, the alien woman cut him off. “ We are of Kenis Prime. You are not. All intruders will vacate our home. ”
    “Intruders?” Kirk’s brow knitted, and he swiveled to Pippenge for an explanation as he made a slashing motion across his throat to Uhura, ordering communications privacy.
    “I don’t understand.” The ambassador puckered his lips slightly, which Kirk understood to be the same as a human shaking his head. “We are not born to this world, but I assure you the planet was long uninhabited when we found it.”
    “But there are ruins of a previous civilization,” Spock offered.
    “Of course,” Pippenge agreed. “Ancient. Abandoned for millennia.”
    “Could these people have abandoned them?” Kirk asked. “You’ve studied the ruins.”
    The ambassador pursed his lips. “Yes. For years.”
    Hands behind his back, Spock stepped to the rail that separated the upper bridge from the command well. “What do you know of those who built them?”
    “Myself?” Pippenge’s eyes widened—a shrug. “Little. I am neither an archaeologist nor scientist.”
    “You call this planet Maaba S’Ja,” Spock said calmly. “If memory serves, that means ‘new world’ in your language. Is it possible another race called it Kenis Prime?”
    Thoughtfully, Pippenge paused to consider it. “I don’t know. Perhaps. It does sound familiar,” he said eventually. “But by an extinct society. Dead, long before we arrived.”
    “Not so dead.” Kirk motioned to the viewscreen, indicating not only the representative dot of the hostile ship, but the actual vessel beyond the bulkhead.
    “I—I cannot imagine,” Pippenge said quietly, almost to himself.
    “They want their planet back.” It was as if Fate were laughing at him for thinking this would be a quick diplomatic run— Enterprise as taxi service. With the treaty signed, the Federation was now pledged to protect the Maabas, and a hostile vessel from a people posing as the original inhabitants of the protectorate planet qualified as a threat to be handled.
    An audible, figurative poke in Kirk’s eye, the Kenisian vessel signaled again. “ Intruder battle cruiser. We grow impatient. The planet will be vacated, or all will pay the price.”
    His jaw tight, Kirk replied. “Kenisian vessel, we believe in settling our differences through discussion, not force, if at all possible.” He didn’t like the Kenisian’s tone or threats, but now wasn’t the time to mirror them.
    After a long pause, Uhura sighed in frustration. “They’ve closed the channel, sir.”
    Spock was already studying his scanner when Kirk turned toward him.
    “They’re charging weapons.”
    “Shields.” Kirk pounded the arm of his command chair. “All hands, battle stations.”
    “Battle stations,” Uhura repeated over the intercom. “All hands to battle stations. This is not a drill. All hands, report to battle stations.”
    The captain tensed instinctively, as he had when he was a young, green ensign and first heard the call to battle. He told himself that this would change. It hadn’t. He could still feel himself coiling up. He had gotten better at hiding it, but the feeling always remained.
    To his side, Pippenge gripped the rail so hard it looked like he was trying to snap it in half. For him, a triumphant return home, planned for months in advance, had been tainted by the improbable.
    “Evasive action, Mister Sulu.” Kirk studied the tactical display, which he knew would be inadequate. “Mister Scott, we need those sensors.”
    “Aye, sir.” Scott sped toward the turbolift. “I’ll move the lads along.”
    The bridge shook as the lift doors closed. Salvos struck against the