CAPTAIN JAMES T. KIRK watched the main viewscreen closely as Sulu brought the Enterprise out of warp drive a cautious five AU from the Cochise and held it motionless while Spock silently studied the sensor readouts. If there was a gate in the vicinity, Kirk wanted to know its precise location before he ordered so much as an attitude maneuver. The Enterprise had survived one unplanned jump across a billion or more parsecs. He had no intention of pressing his luck and taking a chance on a second.
"Well, Mr. Spock?" Kirk asked when the silence had stretched to nearly half a minute.
"Captain Chandler was correct in his assumptions, Captain," Spock finally replied. "A gate does exist, approximately forty million kilometers directly in front of the Cochise."
"So, we know what area to avoid. What is its diameter at maximum expansion?"
"This gate does not appear to undergo a cycle of expansion and contraction, Captain. Its dimensions have thus far remained constant." Spock paused, his eyebrows angling upward almost imperceptibly. "However, its shape, while also essentially constant, is decidedly irregular."
"Not the usual circular disk?"
"Far from it, Captain. A highly elongated and extremely jagged ellipse is the least inaccurate description I would care to give. Its longest dimension is approximately twenty thousand kilometers, its shortest less than a quarter of that."
"Which is quite sufficient for avoiding it," Kirk said. "And the status of the Cochise?"
"The ship is undamaged as far as can be ascertained, Captain. Its deflectors, however, are fully energized."
Kirk frowned. "Any other ships nearby? Any obvious threat?"
"None, Captain. I can discern no matter of any kind beyond the usual assortment of particles to be expected in the interstellar medium."
"Take us in to a thousand kilometers, Mr. Sulu, but cautiously. Quarter impulse power."
"Aye-aye, sir."
"And Lieutenant Uhura, let's announce ourselves."
"Ready, sir. Hailing frequency open."
"Captain Chandler, this is Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise. We have been sent in response to your message to Starfleet. What is your situation?"
There was only silence in reply.
"No response, sir," Uhura said as she worked the controls. "They're not even transmitting a carrier frequency."
Kirk's frown deepened, and he turned toward the main viewscreen. "Centered on the Cochise, Mr. Sulu, maximum magnification."
"Aye-aye, sir."
The stellar field expanded rapidly, the stars bleeding off the edge of the screen on all sides. Within seconds, a tiny image of the ship with its single warp-propulsion unit was visible in the center of the screen. The designation NCC-530 was clearly visible across the top of the saucer.
"Any activity, Mr. Spock?"
"Its sensors are fully extended, Captain, but their range is somewhat diminished by the power being drawn to maintain the deflectors at maximum. All other readings appear normal, all ship's systems in optimal operating condition."
"And the crew?"
"Sensors indicate approximately two hundred nominally humanoid life-forms, Captain, as one would expect on a fully crewed Saladin-class starship."
"And nothing else?"
"Nothing, Captain, either on board the Cochise or anywhere within sensor range."
"Lieutenant Uhura? Still no response?"
"Nothing on any standard Starfleet frequency or on any other known frequency."
"Very well. Keep trying. Put my greetings to Chandler on automatic, to repeat every sixty seconds."
"Done, sir."
"Mr. Sulu, continue the approach."
"Aye-aye, sir."
"Mr. Chekov, be ready to put up the deflectors on my order. Or at the first sign of any hostile action."
"Hostile action, sir?" Chekov turned to look at Kirk over his shoulder. "From the Cochise? But they are a Federation ship, Keptin—and ve are within Federation territory."
"A Federation ship that is acting very strangely, Mr. Chekov. And a Federation ship that is in close proximity to a gate that could lead literally anywhere in the universe. Just be ready."
Chekov's eyes widened as he turned back to face the controls. "You believe that something has come through, sir?"
"Anything's possible, Mr. Chekov."
"Aye, sir, I understand."
"How close, Mr. Sulu?"
"Four AU, Captain."
"Mr. Spock, I assume their sensors can detect us at this range."
"Undoubtedly, Captain. Whether they have received your subspace message or not, they know we are here."
"Any speculations on a reason for their silence, Mr. Spock?"
"None at this time, Captain, but—"
Without warning, a harsh voice burst from Uhura's receiver.
"Identify yourself!"
Frowning, Kirk complied. "As we have been broadcasting since shortly after our emergence from warp drive, I am Captain James T. Kirk, commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise. We are responding to—"
"I know who you say you are," the voice interrupted. "Show me!"
"As you wish. Lieutenant Uhura, open a visual channel."
"Done, sir."
The forward viewscreen flickered, but nothing appeared. "They're receiving our transmission, sir," Uhura said, "but they're sending nothing visual in return."
"Captain Chandler," Kirk said. "A visual channel is open. Is something wrong with your transmission gear?"
"We have been having some problems." Chandler's voice came back abruptly.
"What kind of problems? Would you like to lower your deflectors so one of our technicians could beam over and—"
"No!" The word exploded from the speakers.
"Is there some trouble, Captain Chandler?" Kirk asked, purposely keeping his tone even and, he hoped, reassuring. It was obvious not only from Chandler's words and actions but from the brittle tension in his voice that something was very wrong. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
For a moment there was only silence, punctuated by the sound of Chandler's breathing and an almost inaudible murmuring in the background.
"You can maintain your present distance!" Chandler said.
"You heard the captain, Mr. Sulu," Kirk said smoothly.
"Aye-aye, sir. Three point four AU and holding."
"Now then, Captain Chandler, can you tell me what's going on? Less than two days ago, you told Starfleet you suspected you had discovered a gate similar to the one the Enterprise was recently involved with. What has happened since your message to Starfleet?"
"Nothing!" Chandler said sharply. "Nothing has happened!"
"Then why are your deflectors up? Has something come through the gate?"
"How would I know? According to Starfleet, the Enterprise has the only sensors in the Federation capable of even detecting one of these gates, let alone anything that might come through!"
"We've surveyed the area, Captain Chandler," Kirk said. "You were quite right; a gate does exist. It is approximately forty million kilometers directly in front of the Cochise. However, our sensors indicate nothing else within range."
"So you say." Instead of sounding reassured, Chandler sounded, if anything, even more tense, more suspicious.
Kirk was silent, trying to think what approach to take, trying to imagine what could have happened to Chandler and his ship. Had something come through the gate? Something undetectable even to the Enterprise's modified sensors? Something that had taken over the Cochise? Was Chandler simply trying to warn them off? And if he was …
"Very well, Captain Chandler," Kirk said abruptly. "As long as you're experiencing no problems, we can place a space buoy to mark the location of the gate, and we can all be on our way back to Starbase. Mr. Sulu, prepare to launch—"
Suddenly, the sound of a struggle crackled across subspace from the bridge of the Cochise. A half-dozen voices—some shouting, some grunting, some gasping—could be heard. Something heavy, probably a body, thudded to the deck, followed by something metallic.
"Ortiz! The phaser controls!" A deep female voice punched through the chaos. "Keep him away from the phaser controls!"
Chekov's hands moved reflexively on the weapons console. Kirk motioned him to remain calm.
Then Chandler's voice, high-pitched and angry, drowned out everything else.
"Commander Ansfield! I demand you release me and obey my orders!" he almost screamed, and in the silence that followed, his breathing was harsh and ragged.
"I'm sorry, Captain," the woman's voice said. "But I—"
"The rest of you, help me! This is mutiny! Ortiz! Kronin! Nkrumah! I order you to help me!"
"We reached our decision together, Captain," the woman's voice said, softly this time, even sadly. "You gave us no choice. In accordance with Starfleet regulations, with the full concurrence of Chief Medical Officer Nkrumah, I am herewith officially relieving you of command of the Cochise on the grounds of temporary emotional instability. I'm sorry."
"You don't know what you're doing!" Chandler screamed. "That's not the Enterprise out there! And even if it is, that creature that says he's Kirk is under the control of—"
"Dr. Nkrumah," the woman said, and a moment later there was the distinctive hiss of a spray hypo, and Chandler abruptly fell silent.
"I'm sorry, Micah," the woman said softly. "I'm sorry."
For a moment, there was total silence on both ships.
Then the main viewscreen on the Enterprise sprang suddenly to life.
"Full visual communication commencing, sir," Uhura said, and even as she spoke, the bridge of the Cochise rippled into sharp focus on the screen.
The captain—presumably Chandler—lay on the deck between the command chair and the helmsman's station. A commander in science blue kneeled next to him with a medical tricorder, beads of perspiration glistening on his ebony forehead.
"He'll be all right, Essie," the man said, and the small graying woman just behind him, also in science blue, let out her breath in an obvious sigh of relief and then, straightening, turned to face the viewscreen.
"Captain Kirk," she said, only a trace of a tremor in her deep voice. "I'm Commander Esther Ansfield, chief science officer of the Cochise. I think we'd better have a talk. I'll drain the moat if you and your colleagues want to beam over."
"Moat?" Kirk frowned, but before he could say more, Spock announced that the Cochise's deflectors had been lowered.