Part V

Andrew lit a cigarette and leaned against the wall of the bathroom. The usual facilities of the room were useless to him, but it was a nice spot for privacy--the other minions the new master had hired were as dumb as posts and half as interesting to be around. They were adequate for guarding purposes, but the master had taken the smarter minions with him when he left thirty-six hours before, and Andrew had been left in charge. He had ordered them to go out for food in shifts during the night, and to watch the strange blue-skinned alien carefully. So far, his orders had been obeyed, and he was just marking time until his boss showed up and told him how the latest plan to conquer the world would proceed. He sighed in annoyance. Spike was a sadistic jerk, but at least he wasn't cryptic

He heard a commotion outside, and he went to the peephole that the thoughtful owner of the home had installed before he was dispossessed by the vampires. He looked--and the first face he saw caused him to freeze in sheer terror:

Buffy Summers.

The Slayer was storming through the living area of the house, accompanied by nine men wearing strangely colored uniforms. The minions were attacking, but Buffy was cutting a swath through them, and the men were wielding stakes and cattle prods with deadly efficiency. Andrew also noted that the chair that had contained the alien was conspicuously empty. He cursed and retreated to a small closet in a corner of the bathroom. Surely they would see eight vampires and assume there were no more there. . .

The house went silent, and Andrew relaxed slightly. This ended when he heard the bathroom door crash open, and after a few seconds, the closet door opened--revealing Buffy Summers, who was standing there with a terrifying smile on her face. Andrew shuddered as the Slayer raised an eyebrow and commented, "I know you--you should have skipped town for good after Spike ran off." She turned to the tall man with pointed ears--who Andrew also belatedly recognized--and commented, "Wish I could keep one of those tricorders after you guys leave, Spock--they'd make my job a lot easier."

The alien gave Buffy a tolerant look, and she sighed and said, "Fine--ruin my dreams of easy Slayage."

A man of medium-height and build who wore the unmistakable aura of command walked into the bathroom and up to Buffy. "The rest of the house is empty--no Federation equipment to be found, and no written plans or other evidence present." The man looked at Andrew and then back at Buffy. "Our brig is, of course, at your disposal."

Andrew stared at the man, then shivered again as Buffy shook her head and said simply, "Thanks, Captain Kirk, but I think it would be a bad idea. I am aware through Mr. Spock of certain Federation laws that wouldn't be consistent with what's about to happen to Chuckles here."

Andrew saw Kirk stiffen, then nod and depart. The Slayer turned to the alien next to her and said simply, "Mr. Spock--you should go too."

Mr. Spock shook his head. "I will remain, Miss Summers. This is a non-Federation world, and as such the Prime Directive applies: I will not interfere. However, the Hellmouth Protocol requires that in instances when information might be available to alleviate the crisis which triggered its activation, a representative of Starfleet aware of the Protocol must be present if possible to monitor the events and record them for future study." Andrew saw Buffy shiver, and Mr. Spock inclined his head and added, "However, records need not be preserved of any. . .preliminaries that precede the actual dissemination of information."

Andrew's eyes widened--it didn't take a rocket scientist to realize what the alien was suggesting. Buffy nodded once, and turned back to Andrew with a cold, cold expression that frightened him far more than the smile had. She pulled out a small metal cross and a bottle of holy water, and stared at Andrew for fully five seconds before the smile returned and she said simply, "It'll stop when you're ready."

Buffy brushed the dust from her hands and stood up. "Interesting stuff--but I think it will make more sense if we talk about it back in the Enterprise briefing room with the others." She started out the door, but noted that Spock was still standing next to where the vampire had been, looking at her. Buffy sighed and asked bluntly, "Spock--is there something you want to say to me?"

Spock looked at her and nodded once before replying, "Yes Buffy, there is." He locked eyes with her and said quietly, "Although I am devoting no particular effort to maintaining it, there is still a residual link between us, and you do not have the mental discipline of a Vulcan. You are feeling great shame right now that you were forced to resort to physical coercion to compel that vampire to surrender the evidence in its possession, and you were further upset by Captain Kirk's reaction to your revealed intentions. Buffy--Captain Kirk is a civilized and modern man, but he is aware of the demands of emergencies, and I had already suggested to him that such a course of action might be necessary. I am certain that he appreciated your intentions in taking this matter onto yourself for the sake of both our worlds."

Buffy closed her eyes, and heard Spock continue, "As for myself, Buffy--vampires conceptually are an abomination to me, as they would be for any Vulcan. To have all that one is perverted and turned against all that we hold sacred in our lives. . .it is difficult to imagine something worse that could happen to one of us. The need to deviate from the ideal of pacifism to destroy such a menace is something that Surak would have countenanced without hesitation--of this, I am certain. Starfleet Command considered the possibility that Vulcan ideals would prevent me from performing my duties under the Protocol and offered me the use of memory-blocking drugs to relieve me of those duties without prejudice--I declined, and they found my reasons for doing so compelling enough to share the information with the Vulcan High Council." Spock held out his tricorder and concluded, "I've edited the recording to only include the relevant information--I suggest we beam up and brief the others."

Buffy smiled and said simply, "Thank you, Mr. Spock." She pulled out the communicator that had been resting on her belt, and called out, "Two to beam up, Mr. Kyle!"

The triple screen went dark, and Kirk turned to the silent watchers: "Comments?"

"He didn't know all that much," Buffy commented, shaking her head in annoyance. "He was working for somebody who turned someone they couldn't handle when they woke up as a vamp. New guy stakes his sire and takes over what's left of Spike's organization. Andrew and the other minions got fed the old "we will wipe out the pathetic humans and take over the world" line, and he had heard the same thing from Pike's people who got turned--I'm thinking that the new master is the captain of the Stormwatch." She frowned and looked back at Kirk. "If that Angborian guy knows anything, this might be a good time to ask him."

Kirk suppressed a smile at Buffy's mangling of "Andorian" and hit the intercom button: "Bones, we're ready for him whenever you are."

After a few seconds, the doors to the briefing room opened, and a hover chair floated in, followed by McCoy, who was fiddling with a medical instrument and watching the chair's occupant with mild concern. The Andorian was more or less a typical representative of his race and gender: he was slightly shorter than Xander and built along slender lines, with the characteristic blue skin, white hair, and prominent antennae in the place of ears. The chair stopped about three feet from Kirk, and he stood and inclined his head to the visitor. "I am Captain James T. Kirk, commander of the Enterprise. Dr. McCoy informs me that you are recovering rapidly, Mr.--"

"Andorian names are a bit elaborate for humans to deal with, Captain," the Andorian replied apologetically, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "My crewmates and the captain generally called me 'Mr. Zhuk.'"

Kirk frowned, then nodded and commented, "Very well, Mr. Zhuk. Are we correct in assuming that you were a member of the crew of the Stormwatch on the voyage that brought it to this dimension?"

"Yes," Zhuk replied. "We were on a cargo run when a severe ion storm blew out our sensors and threw us off course. When we recovered, we found ourselves in the middle of a restricted area seeded with warning buoys; unfortunately, the buoys did not reveal the nature of the danger. We attempted to withdraw from the field, but were drawn into a strange phenomenon that brought us into a star system that was a near-duplicate of the Sol System. We entered orbit and Captain Lewis and two of our crew beamed down to a spot that our instruments suggested might be the source of the disturbance, with the hope that the immense power it seemed to emit might well be harnessed in some way."

Kirk nodded. He had already reviewed the record of Alan Lewis, the captain and owner of the Stormwatch. Five years in Starfleet--resigned his commission when his father died ten years ago and left him a small planetary prospecting operation--much like the one that the deeply annoying Cyrano Jones had operated before the tribble incident clipped his wings--made a couple of lucrative finds and was able to buy a first-rate scoutship for his business. From all accounts, a good man--and he had apparently met his end along with two of his crew on a planet that contained dangers beyond his imagination. He frowned and asked, "How long were they down there before they signaled for beam-up?"

"Thirty-six hours--and they had been out of communication for most of that time," replied Zhuk, shaking his head sadly. "We had been prepared for the possibility of deception--even for being forced to bring intruders along by coercive means. The captain used all the proper passwords and even seemed all right at first--but before I knew it I was alone and facing the captain on the bridge. He had become one of those things that was guarding me down on the planet. I tried to defend myself, but phasers don't work right here. He just laughed at me and dragged me off to the mess room--the rest of the crew were lying there, piled like storage crates. I thought they were all dead, but as I watched, some of them started to move--they had been turned into those horrid creatures. The captain had me bound to a chair and invited one of the creatures that had been on the surface with him to 'do the honors.' It leaned down and bit my neck, and I thought I was done for--but it started shrieking and withdrew from me, then burst into flames that burned it into ashes. The captain looked angry, but he recovered quickly and said that he would have to research other ways to compel my loyalty. He sent me down to the surface, where I was taken to that house and remained there until you rescued me."

Kirk blinked at the latter part of Zhuk's story, and turned to McCoy: "Bones, I don't remember seeing anything in the Enterprise's landing party notes from fifteen years ago about vampires bursting into flames when trying to feed--do you have any theories?"

McCoy shook his head. "Jim, I've got a detailed description of how a human being is transformed into a vampire, but I haven't the slightest idea as to why it works--it might as well be a man in a robe saying 'Hocus Pocus!' as far as understanding it goes. The obvious thing to consider would be that Mr. Zhuk's Andorian physiology is alien to the vampire in some way that provokes an extreme chemical reaction of some time."

"Doctor, your reasoning would appear to be sound." Spock looked up from his tricorder and ejected a data tape, which he inserted into a slot next to the triple screen. The screens lit up and showed a blood analysis chart. "This is an analysis of vampire blood--I took the opportunity to scan a sample while we were on the surface." Buffy stirred in visible discomfort, and Kirk directed a supportive smile at her before Spock continued, "I must confess that--as is the case with Dr. McCoy--I am unable to discern any reason why this substance should produce the effects that it demonstrably does. There are odd energy readings associated with the substance, but I am unable to analyze its properties--it is reasonable to assume that the energy is the key to the transformation process. However, the substance does have properties as a mundane substance of the same chemical makeup would--it reacts violently to certain compounds containing phosphorus."

Most of the occupants of the room were puzzled by Spock's comment, but Willow raised an eyebrow: "Mr. Spock, does Andorian hemoglobin contain phosphorus?"

"Yes, Miss Rosenberg--excellent reasoning." Spock gave Willow an approving nod, and McCoy winked at her. Chekov flushed slightly and concentrated on remaining invisible--Mr. Spock was less than gentle with protégés who forgot important information during briefing sessions. Spock noted the reaction but chose to ignore it as he elaborated, "Phosphorus plays the same role for Andorians that iron does in human hemoglobin, and copper in Vulcan hemoglobin. The feeding process quickly brought the phosphorus-based hemoglobin in contact with the vampire blood, and a violent thermal reaction resulted that was fatal to the vampire."

Buffy smiled coldly. "That gives me an idea for some new weapons, if I can work with Willow or someone else who didn't squeak by with a 'C' in Chemistry." Willow nodded, and Buffy looked over at Zhuk--who looked rather bewildered--and asked, "Mr. Zhuk--did your captain say anything to you that might suggest what his plans were?"

"He intends to destroy all human life on this world--he was still reviewing plans as to how that would be accomplished." Zhuk sounded shaky, and the others waited patiently as he seemed to gather his composure and continued, "The impression I had was that he was going to make a couple of trips back through the anomaly for supplies and information, then exterminate the human race and secure it for him and those creatures. From what I was able to overhear the last time he was at the house, they had completed one trip back through, and were going to delay the next one until they had completed preliminary steps here to eliminate the human race."

"That is most unfortunate," commented Spock. "I sent a coded subspace signal to Starfleet Command immediately after the destruction of Starbase 48, and an update just before we entered the anomaly. By my calculations, and keeping in mind the time flow difference between the two universes, there should be a large task force waiting on the other side of the anomaly by now, and their orders will be to utterly destroy any ship which contains vampires--as a simple sensor scan will reveal after Starfleet provides the proper calibrating information. If Captain Lewis were to venture out of this universe again, the threat would be removed, except for checks to make sure no more vampires with inappropriate technological information had survived here."

Kirk frowned. "The anomaly will reverse again in ten hours--send a fast impulse probe with our logs up to now, coded eyes-only for the head of the task force. They can send one back to update us, with appropriate safeguards." Spock nodded and pressed a few buttons, and Kirk turned to Mr. Zhuk. "Thank you for your assistance, sir. Dr. McCoy would probably prefer that you rest now, but if you think of anything else that might help us--"

"If there is anything I can do to help I will, Captain--those things murdered my friends and crewmates." Zhuk replied. Kirk nodded grimly, and McCoy walked back over to Zhuk and pushed the grav-chair out.

The occupants of the briefing room conversed quietly for a few minutes until McCoy had returned and sat down. Kirk frowned and commented, "We seem to have a potential catastrophe on our hands--recommendations?"

"As before, finding the Stormwatch will need to be a major priority--whatever they have planned, it will involve their ship." Spock spoke quietly, looking back at Kirk with a calm expression.

"Captain Kirk--they've probably been using this time to see what technology works in this universe and what doesn't: we should probably assume that they know what we do as far as what works. What technology that works on this ship, and which is also in the possession of the Stormwatch, could be used to destroy all human life on Earth?" Willow's expression was visibly upset, but her voice was as calm as Spock's as she asked the question.

Kirk looked at Spock, who quickly replied: "Our warp drive does not function properly here--faster-than-light travel may well be possible, but not using those means. The matter-antimatter reactor still functions normally--including the containment fields, or the ship would have been destroyed upon entry to this universe. Phasers are almost useless, at approximately 1 efficiency. Photon torpedoes are useless due to the disablement of their warp drives and instability in their containment fields. Impulse drive is at 100 efficiency, as are inertial dampeners. Structural integrity fields are at 50 efficiency, which should be adequate for any sublight maneuvering which is necessary. Shields and deflectors are functioning normally. Subspace radio is functional--apparently the problems with the warp drive only apply to physical matter--and sensors are also functioning normally. Tractor beams are at 100 power."

Kirk was about to speak, but Buffy broke in: "What's a tractor beam, Mr. Spock?"

Spock looked to Kirk--who nodded--and replied, "Tractor beams use focused gravitons to exert attractive force on objects, Miss Summers. We use them to move objects in space--up to the size of large spacecraft or small asteroids."

Xander paled. "Did you say you could move asteroids with one of those tractor beams?" Spock nodded, and Xander commented, "Well, if the ray guns and bombs won't work, I know what would work--if that scout ship has tractor beams. I remember reading this book that Will gave me a few birthdays back, and--"

"Xander! You read it!" exclaimed Willow, looking thrilled.

Xander noted the amused attention being directed his way, and flushed as he muttered, "Well, I had a free weekend, the cable was out, and Larry Niven can tell a pretty good story. Anyway, as I was saying--" He stopped for a moment to glare at Willow, then continued, "--the story was about an alien race staging an invasion. As part of the process they deflected a couple of good-sized asteroids and sent them falling into the oceans of Earth--did a lot of environmental damage."

"Your taste in popular fiction is rather morbid, Mr. Harris--but your analysis is sound." Spock looked at Xander, then back at Kirk. "That would be the most efficient plan for destroying human life on this Earth, Captain. Given the physical laws of this place, the Stormwatch lacks the resources to construct antimatter bombs with any measure of safety. The best alternate plan would be to subvert the leaderships of the nations currently in possession of thermonuclear weapons by turning them into vampires and to launch a multilateral thermonuclear war, but this would have a higher risk of discovery, take substantially longer, and would be subject to the counter efforts of individuals such as Miss Summers. Asteroid deflection is something that the inhabitants of this world would be helpless to discover or prevent, and could be repeated at need until the human race was eradicated. I would recommend that we break orbit and begin searching for the Stormwatch in the asteroid belt, concentrating on regions where an asteroid could be easily deflected into a fast orbit that would bring it into a collision with the Earth."

Kirk nodded. "Agreed--though we should safeguard against the other major possibility as well. Mr. Spock--please select two shuttle crews for the purpose of conducting tight scans of the governmental centers and the major nuclear launch facilities on the Earth. If they spot any vampiric life signs in those locations, we'll return and beam them out for questioning and further measures as recommended by Miss Summers. " Spock nodded and left the briefing room, and Kirk turned to Sulu and Chekov. "Prepare to break orbit--we'll be heading to the asteroid belt at full impulse. Sulu, with phasers and photon torpedoes useless, our primary defensive weapons are going to be the tractor beams. Feel free to get relief and review your drills in Auxiliary Control if--"

"I trained on Offensive Tractor Use just last month, Captain--my score was .08 short of the Starfleet record." Kirk raised an eyebrow, and Sulu added defensively, "Commodore Wesley does have some rather good people working for him, sir."

Kirk feigned mild disappointment, then replied, "I suppose it will have to do. Dismissed."

Sulu and Chekov departed, and Kirk announced, "Very well--this meeting is adjourned. Officers to posts--and our guests are welcome to rest in quarters or to return to the bridge: it will take us about forty minutes after breaking orbit to reach the asteroid belt."

The occupants of the room stood up and departed. Kirk noted that Buffy was lingering, and called out, "Is there something I can help you with, Miss Summers?"

Buffy shrugged, and her expression was amused as she commented, "And I thought Giles was tough on me--Sulu nearly sets a record with some obscure weapon we just happen to need now, and you managed to make it sound like he scraped by with a D in Fingerpainting."

Kirk grinned and replied, "My dear Miss Summers, Lieutenant Sulu is the best helmsman in the fleet. If I didn't express a little disappointment at finding a blemish on his resume, he'd be disappointed in me." Buffy grinned back as Kirk added, "I appreciate my people's talents, Miss Summers, and they know it."

Buffy noted the warmth in the hazel eyes, and shook her head. "Do you ever turn off the charm, Captain? Usually when a guy looks at me like that, he's after my body or my blood--or both."

Kirk shivered a bit at the image Buffy had just evoked, and shook his head. "I apologize if I gave the wrong impression, Miss Summers." A memory came back to him unbidden, and he shivered again before adding, "The last time I was involved with a woman your age, she turned out to be a psychotic who was murdering individuals who could identify her father as the butcher who killed four thousand colonists twenty years before. Since that time, I have come to prefer slightly older--and saner--women."

Buffy laughed and commented, "I might not qualify on either count." Kirk smiled, and Buffy added, "Sounds like your love life gets a little complicated sometimes--almost as much as mine does."

Kirk raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid to ask."

Buffy sighed. "My ex-boyfriend is a vampire who was given a soul by gypsies to cause him to suffer intense guilt for his crimes. He helped me fight against the forces of darkness, and we fell in love. Unfortunately, the gypsies were deeply stupid and put an escape clause in the curse--if he knew a moment of true happiness, he would lose his soul. Guess who gave him that moment?"

Kirk saw the expression on her face and guessed how the story ended. "I'm sorry, Buffy." He used her first name intentionally to lighten the moment, and saw her smile slightly in response. He had an impulse to tell her about Edith, but decided not to go there. "Let's rejoin the others, shall we?"

Buffy nodded, and they walked out, with the Slayer not noticing that Kirk was lost in thought. I'm glad I didn't bring up the whole thing with Edith--Buffy's had a hard enough time of it without having to imagine what it would be like to have to let the person she loved die to save the world He dismissed the thought, and they took the turbo lift to the Bridge.

. . .to be continued.

As always, comments are welcomed and desired.