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At last, the Starfleet Officers faced the Schillian across the desk. Kirk
scarcely noticed the Vulcan decor, a strange mixture of plush elegance and
austere simplicity. Everything in the office, as in the rest of the ship, was
of the very best quality, the most durable construction, the most widely
accepted esthetic standards, and above everything had the sleek streamline of
the strictly functional.
If he stopped to study the decor's effect, Kirk knew he'd be engrossed
for hours, so he ignored it and said, "Your coordinates were precise, Mr.
Luad. Thank you."
"My pleasure, Captain, please believe your presence is a great
pleasure."
Spock said, "That I can well imagine, Lt. Luad, but we have a very
serious matter . . ."
"Yes, of course," said the Schillian, "won't you please be
seated. I have here the relevant log tapes," he keyed his desk screen and
it lit up with the Shealku pattern, "which will tell you almost as
much as I know of the situation."
For the next twenty minutes, Kirk and Spock viewed the log tapes that
covered the demise of the Shealku's Captain and First Officer. And, as
Lt. Luad had indicated, it wasn't really too informative. For fifteen minutes,
they watched the two human officers seated across the very desk where they now
sat. They were doing a routine audit of Shealku's records. There was
nothing to indicate an impending crisis.
Then, suddenly, they both crumpled into peaceful death with no indication
of the cause. That was all there was.
Lt. Luad snapped the screen off and said, "Half and hour later, I
found them like that. Autopsy indicated a gas poisonous to humans in very
small traces but not toxic to Schillians except in high concentration. On the
basis of that, the three officers junior to me have filed charges against me
and our navigator, the only other Schillian aboard. But, until you came, there
was no authority available to which we could appeal. The charges are
delineated in the ship's log."
Spock asked, "How long ago did this occur?"
"Six days. I've requested a replacement Captain to be sent from our
nearest depot, but he won't be here for fifteen days."
He was interrupted by a knock on the door and said, "Come."
The door slid noiselessly aside and three junior officers in
Shealku's uniform, a simple pants and tunic outfit in the same
shades-of- blue geometric pattern as the Shealku emblem, marched into
the room. As the leader advanced to the desk, Kirk knew at once who they were.
You didn't need telepathy to sense the grimness of suppressed anger in the
three humans.
"Luad," said the leader, "you can't . . ."
"Captain Kirk," interrupted Lt. Luad urbanely, "this is
Engineer Fuller, Director Thompson and our Chief Purser, Mr. Reynolds.
Gentlemen, this is Captain Kirk and his First Officer, Mr. Spock of the U.S.S.
Enterprise."
Reynolds was a short man with blond hair and a tenor voice while the
other two were dark with a Eurasian cast.
Perforce, the humans acknowledged the introduction. Fuller advanced to
pound on the desk. "Captain Kirk, I demand . . ."
Kirk said, "Mr. Fuller, you are in no position to make any
demands."
"But, Captain, this," he indicated the Schillian with a flick
of his hand, ". . .man is accused of . . ."
Kirk interrupted, "I know, Mr. Fuller. Won't you be seated?"
Indignantly, Fuller raised his voice, "Captain! A murder . . ."
Kirk said, "Mr. Fuller, I strongly suggest you take a seat and allow
us to proceed with the investigation in an orderly fashion. The legalities are
already confused enough without adding prejudice."
Fuller threw himself into a chair grudgingly while the other two crewmen
perched themselves on the edges of their chairs.
"Prejudice!" said Fuller. "So! Luad's been getting his
licks in first! Well, let me tell you . . ."
The door signal chimed again and Luad said, "Come."
A tall Vulcan dressed in a severe black tunic and trousers strode into
the room with an air of authority that impressed even Kirk, who found himself
rising to greet the man as if he were an admiral.
37
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