Open Secrets

“Medic!” al-Khaled shouted as he knelt down next to McCown, his fingers reaching for the younger man’s throat in search of a pulse while he tried not to think too much about the ghastly wound in his back. Other members of the landing party stepped forward in a bid to help, but he ignored them, just as he only partially heard O’Halloran calling into the intercom and requesting that a medical team be dispatched to the transporter room. Nothing else mattered, not while he madly probed McCown’s neck for a pulse.

He found none.

“Bridge to transporter rooms!”the voice of Captain Okagawa shouted through the intercom. “Do we have everyone or not?”

Fighting back anger as he continued to stare at the unmoving body of Ensign McCown, al-Khaled called out, “O’Halloran! What’s going on?”

“The Klingon ships are breaking orbit,” replied the ensign. “They never fired the first shot at us.” Reaching across the console, he once more reactivated the intercom system. “Bridge, this is transporter room two. I have eight retrieved here. Six plus the Tholian and one casualty.”

Over the speaker, al-Khaled heard another voice respond, “Transporter room one here. We have nine. Only one sustained injuries, but they’re not critical.”

“That’s only seventeen,”Okagawa’s voice snapped. “Who’s missing?”

Looking around the transporter room, al-Khaled already knew the answer, but still he asked the question. “Where’s Xiong? He was near my location when I was beamed up.”

A moment later, the voice from transporter room one replied, “He’s not in our group, sir.”

“Son of a bitch!” al-Khaled growled, lunging from the transporter pad and moving around the console, all but elbowing O’Halloran out of the way. Hitting the comm switch, he said, “Lovellto Lieutenant Xiong. Come in, Xiong.” There was no response, but al-Khaled repeated the call even as he reset the transporter controls and sca

“We’re not picking up any human life signs anywhere, Commander. He’s either dead, or he’s not down there.”

37

It was too hot to eat, Pe

Sitting at a table on the veranda outside Sobon’s home, Pe

I always was slow on the uptake.

“Would you like more water, Mr. Pe

He looked up at the sound of the new voice, finding himself eye-to-eye with a young Vulcan girl standing next to his table and carrying a stone pitcher. Pe

He held out the oversized mug he had selected for use during his meal. “That’d be lovely, my dear. Thank you.” As she began to pour, he said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. What’s your name, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I am T’Lon,” the girl replied. “My mother works as one of the keepers of Healer Sobon’s house, and I assist her on days when I am not in school.”

Once she had filled the mug, Pe

I could learn to like this place,he thought, not for the first time. Though he was a citizen of a culture where nearly every facet of day-to-day life was inexorably intertwined on some level with modern technology, there was something to be said for the simpler, matter-of-fact existence of this village’s residents. There was an appeal, Pe

If it could only be fifty degrees cooler, and if they maybe had a pub or two, it would be almost perfect.

He realized after a moment that the young girl was still standing at the table, looking expectantly at him. “I’m sorry,” he said, straightening his posture in his seat. “Is there something else? Have I done something wrong?”

T’Lon shook her head. “No, you have not acted improperly.” Gesturing toward the sheaves of parchment lying on his table, she asked, “I was curious about what you might be writing.”

“That’s a good question,” Pe

No bloody idea what I might do with it, but I’ll worry about that when it’s finished.

When T’Lon remained in place after another moment without saying anything, he asked, “Do you have another question?”

The young Vulcan nodded. “I wished to ask whether you would be willing to answer a question about T’Pry

Surprised by this, Pe

“No, though I have mentored under the guidance of her sister, T’Nel. I wished to inquire about her current condition.” Lowering her gaze, she added, “We are not given much in the way of information, though many of us are curious.”

Pe