Free Star Trek V: The Final Frontier by J. M. Dillard Page B

designers were long dead, its purpose forgotten; it was now no more than a piece of flotsam, like the millions of bits of celestial debris that had collided with it, scarring its once-smooth surface. Still visible on one side of the probe, etched into the metal, were images: two naked adult humans, a male and a female, hands raised in a gesture of greeting. Beside them were various mathematical and scientific symbols. The probe had obviously been launched by humans who hoped to contact intelligent extraterrestrial life forms.
    Ironic, thought First Officer Vixis, that it should encounter them here, centuries later, in the Klingon empire. From the bridge viewscreen of the Bird of Prey
Okrona,
she watched the probe’s movement withinterest, occasionally calling out an order to the helmsman, Tarag, to ensure that the Bird kept pace with the device. Vixis smiled thinly at the screen. She had notified her captain, Klaa, of the probe’s existence; she could tell as his voice filtered through the intercom that the captain had been greatly pleased by the news. He was on his way to the bridge even now.
    The humans, of course, would have venerated the object; judging from its wounds, it predated the Federation, possibly even the development of warp drive. Should the Klingons extend the Federation the courtesy of informing them of its existence in Empire space, the humans would be willing to pay a dear price for it and, upon receipt, would enshrine it in a museum.
    But since it was Klaa’s ship, the
Okrona,
that had found it, the Federation would never be given such a chance—if, indeed,
any
Klingon ship would have bothered. Vixis was a shrewd officer; she notified Klaa the instant the probe was spotted and saw to it that the ship remained well within range. She had not served under Klaa long, but already she knew him well; he would be most anxious to deal with the device personally, and he would never have forgiven her if she had left its disposal to the gunner.
    The doors to the bridge parted. Vixis swiveled in her chair and watched as Klaa entered. He was broad-shouldered, stocky, muscular; he emanated power and strength. Of all the captains who had graced
Okrona’s
bridge, Klaa was the most respected—and the most envied. He had received her as a reward for heroic action on the Romulan border during a skirmish in which he, a gunner, was solelyresponsible for the destruction of three Orion vessels and the salvation of his own ship. Even before the incident, Klaa had been widely hailed as the best gunner in the Empire. Now, he was its youngest captain.
    At the sight of him, Vixis rose from her station. She no longer smiled; too much simpering could be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Yet she doubted that Klaa failed to notice the attraction she felt for him. If he did, he did not show it, and that perplexed her, for she knew without false modesty that she was beautiful, and that Klaa was an unattached male.
    “Captain Klaa,” Vixis said. Her voice rose with excitement. “We have a target in sight. An Earth probe of ancient origin.”
    Eyes focused intently on the viewscreen, Klaa crossed to his command chair and rested a hand on its back. “Difficult to hit?”
    “Most difficult,” Vixis assured him.
    “Good.” Klaa glanced meaningfully at her as he said it, an indication that he was pleased with her performance. She nodded, then turned quickly back to her station and sat down, before her expression betrayed her.
    Klaa sat in his chair and began to strap himself in.
Okrona
had been outfitted especially for its new captain, with an elaborate gunner’s rig at the command console so that the phasers mounted on the ship’s wings could be individually controlled from the captain’s station.
    “All weapons to my control,” Klaa ordered.
    The gunner, Morek, complied immediately, though Vixis sensed the surge of hostility emanating fromhim. Morek had been gunner long before Klaa’s meteoric ascent to command; no doubt he