Chapter 2

It was a shock, no doubt about that. Kirk kept thinking about the orange sky outside. It was filled with stars just as the sky would be on a planet close to the galactic core.

But Kirk wasn’t completely convinced until he checked two other navigational arrays on different spacecrafts. Each one showed the location indicator positioned over the same star near the galactic core.

Well, that certainly changed things. Much as Kirk liked space travel, he didn’t intend to spend the better part of his life dashing through unknown space trying to get home. Who in their right mind would do something like that?

His only hope was the dimensional transporter. If he could get hold of the cylindrical unit, hook it up to a self-diagnostic subprocessor, then somehow build an archway out of solid neutronium….

Even Spock would consider that an impossible task. Kirk had no idea how neutronium could be made or shaped since it was supposed to be impervious to heat and pressure.

He was almost delirious after so much searching, then hours of examining spaceships. He hid out for a while in the fresher of one of the ships as he tried to consider his dilemma, but he didn’t want to be discovered or, even worse, be on board if the ship took off to points unknown.

Cautiously, he emerged in time to see at least a dozen Petraw heading toward the door of the hangar. Kirk tagged along behind. He kept thinking of the millions of stars between him and the Enterprise. Was his crew looking for him now?

But the silent workers commanded his attention. Kirk wondered what sort of terrible hardships must have befallen these people to make them so downtrodden and subdued. He kept his own head down, too, to cast a shadow over his well-defined features.

But when they emerged onto a ledge, he forgot himself and looked up in frank amazement. They were at the bottom of another crack, a miniature version of the crevice outside. These parallel walls were much closer together. The inner wall was lined with hexagonal cells, just like the one he had been sealed into by the Petraw. These cells were open; a honeycomb of thousands of cells stacked at least a hundred rows high.

The edges of each cell glowed, making a latticework up one side of the narrow crack. The other wall loomed close in the darkness.

The lattice was crawling with Petraw, climbing up or down, easily gripping the open sides and stepping on the staggered rows. But it was completely, eerily silent.

The Petraw from the hangar started climbing, so Kirk did too. His gloves and booties were skid-resistant, helping him keep a grip on the edges of the cells.

Inside most of the cells were Petraw, lying down. They were on their backs, their heads concealed in the darkness at the other end. Their encased feet stuck toward him.

Kirk climbed very high where more of the cells were empty. He didn’t want to take someone else’s spot, though he wasn’t sure how anyone could find a certain cell among these identical units.

Crawling inside, he sat on the edge and looked down. He was about seventy-five meters high, but it seemed higher because of the nearby opposite wall and the many levels between him and the floor.

Kirk stretched out, lying down with his head at the inner end to hide his face in the shadows. He was still trying to think of a way out of this mess when he passed out.

Kirk was dreaming. It was a nightmare replay of the events leading up to their leap through the gateway. But this time it was different, as if he were watching it outside of himself, seeing details he hadn’t noticed before: Luz’s snarling mouth as she fought, the flare of the protective shield over the crevice, and the arrival of the defenders on the platform….

That drove Kirk nearly to wakefulness, making him roll over. But he let sleep pull him back in.

Then he was dreaming about Tasm. She was being praised by the matriarchs. But he could only see a waxy-looking Petraw dressed in baggy coveralls. Then something in the way she moved and inclined her head as she acknowledged their praise made Kirk realize it was Tasm!

His eyes opened wide as he was jolted out of sleep. But he could still see Tasm in her new guise. Only now it seemed to fit her constrained and sexless manner. That’s why he had rejected her kiss. His subconscious mind had detected the forgery, and had recoiled from a false intimacy with her.

Tasm will be rewarded with our highest honor. She will take her place in the birthing chamber and will be fed the royal gel. She will make a fine addition to our birthing world….

Kirk sat straight up, his heart pounding. Now he couldn’t hear anything. But somehow the words had formed in his mind.

His hands felt the slight curve on the floor at the end of the cell. It was made to fit his skull. The concave surface felt warm.

It was an information feed. He wasn’t sure how he knew that, but he did. Just as he knew the matriarchs used it to distribute their orders and information to Petraw throughout the galaxy.

Kirk hesitated for only a moment. Then he lay back down, placing his head in the curve. He breathed deeply, trying to relax. If this thing provided information, that’s exactly what he needed.

His fatigue helped. In spite of his surprise, his mind started to drift. Then he saw Luz. Her face had been transformed, too. Now she had mere dips for her eyes, with an abbreviated nose and a bump for a chin. She was fully Petraw.

Apparently Luz had already given her version of events. Kirk was disappointed; he wanted to know what had possessed her to steal the interstellar transporter from her own commander. He was certain now that Tasm had been surprised and appalled by Luz’s betrayal. Apparently that was the consensus.

Luz is defective and must be put away from the Petraw. The defenders will put her into the deep.

Kirk could see Luz crying out, her gloved hands reaching up to something he couldn’t see. She was apparently protesting her innocence. But he couldn’t hear what she said.

Two of the larger Petraw took her by each arm, and Kirk couldn’t see her anymore.

He lay there for a few moments longer, but he got no other information. It seemed like a haze hung over his thoughts.

Kirk resisted, sitting up. They were going to kill Luz. If this was happening in real time, they were going to do it any moment. Not that he had any affection for Luz. Quite the contrary, it was because of her that he was trapped so far from home. But the Petraw defenders had made the first move against him by sealing him in that cell. Their enemy was his potential ally.

Tasm was clearly out of the picture, now that she was a favored member of the ruling clan. He would never trust her again.

Kirk slid forward to the edge of his cell. He had slept for a while, to judge from the cramp in his shoulder. Now where, in this huge complex, is Luz?

It would be easier to figure out where they were taking her. The deep…. He was sitting at the edge of what was certainly a deadly plunge, but he wouldn’t call this the deep.

It had to be the giant fissure outside. They were going to throw Luz off the platform.

Kirk rapidly climbed down the cells. There was still a lot of movement over the latticework. After sleeping in the information feed, it made more sense. As if he had been listening to routine orders given throughout the night. He now knew there were thousands of workers in this one block who kept the factories and shipyards functioning. Other vast blocks of cells catered to the guards they called “defenders,” and the scouts in training.

Kirk hurried through the tunnels, slowing down only when he spotted a Petraw ahead. He had been careful to memorize the tunnels he had used, and was able to find his way back with only one wrong turn.

After pushing through the first barrier, he knelt down to check on the cell where he had been sealed in. It was difficult to see that the seal had been broken unless you got close. So they might not know yet that he had gotten away.

Feeling his way along the wall, he went toward the outer barrier. It opened for him more easily this time, and he was outside again. The orange light was bright.

Kirk leaned over the edge. The beige polymer sort of dripped over the edge, but it offered no strategic advantage.

As the barrier closed again, he took up a stance behind it, against one wall. He would jump the Petraw when it opened. Assuming that they hadn’t already marched Luz through here and over the edge. In that case, there was nothing he could do for her.

The barrier started to open, and by the time the Petraw stepped through, Kirk was clinging to the wall near the top curve of the tunnel. His hands and feet were buried in the soft polymer, giving him the perfect ambush position.

They didn’t see him. As the Petraw passed underneath, Kirk dropped down on the first one. His feet kicked out to catch the other Petraw in the face. They let go of Luz to fight back, but with a few well-aimed chops from Kirk, they were both lying unconscious on the floor. He wished he could learn how to do that Vulcan neck pinch. It would be easier on his hands.

Luz looked completely different now, with smoothed features that left her expressionless. Except for her thin-lipped mouth, which was perfectly round in horror. “You!”

Kirk grabbed her. “Come on! Run!” he shouted at her.

Jerking on her arm, he pulled her after him. After a few stiff steps, she finally got going. She must have been in a near-trance, unable to resist being taken to a plunge to certain death.

The second barrier was too slow in opening for Kirk’s comfort. But then they were through and running toward the factories. “Where to?” Kirk asked.

She looked at him blankly, her steps faltering.

Kirk stopped and gave her shoulders a commanding shake. “You better snap out of it and start helping me! The first thing they’ll do is announce that you’ve escaped. If you don’t want to take a dive into nowhere, you’ll have to find us a safe place to hide.”

“Yes!” she gasped out, clutching at his arm. “Yes, I think I know where we can go.”

Luz hurried down the tunnel, passing the doorways to the factories until she found the one she was looking for. Kirk ducked inside after her, wary of other Petraw. But Luz beckoned him to follow her behind a bulky ion generator before anyone noticed them.

It was very dark behind the generator, though the polymer coating on the wall continued to glow. Luz crouched down near an obstruction. Kirk shifted until he could see that it was the wall itself, stretched out and attached to a large round collar in the side of the generator. It was nearly a meter in diameter.

Touching it, Kirk discovered the wall material was taut, pulled to its maximum extension. It was amazing, the uses the Petraw found for polymer.

Luz glanced up, her eyes shining with a fierce intensity. But she didn’t speak.

“This isn’t going to be enough cover.” Kirk crouched down, too, but the junction wouldn’t hide them if anyone walked behind the generator.

“Everyone always underestimates me,” Luz retorted scornfully.

Placing both hands against the wall next to the junction, she pushed. An opening appeared in the wall, widening to about a meter in diameter. It was low to the ground, so Luz stuck her head and arms inside, and with a wiggling motion, disappeared inside.

Kirk scrambled closer. There was faint warm light glowing in the walls of the small tube. “Can’t you open it a bit wider?”

“Nothing satisfies you, does it?” Luz shot back over her shoulder. She started to crawl away.

Kirk shook his head, knowing he’d be a bit caustic, too, if his own people had just tried to throw him off a cliff. Bending his arms, he crawled inside after her.

The opening slowly began to close behind him. “What is this?” he called up to her.

“Access tubes for maintenance and repair.” Her own voice was low.

“Be quiet, will you? There’s other Petraw in these tubes.”

Creeping through the tiny space, bumping his head and elbows with almost every movement, Kirk swore he would never again complain about the size of the Jefferies tubes on board the Enterprise. If he ever got back to the Enterprise.

At least the polymer offered padding for his knees, even if the tube was too small. But it also took extra effort to move since he sank into the stuff. It was like crawling through sticky clay.

Kirk caught up with Luz as she reached an intersection. Another tube crossed theirs. She listened for a few moments. Kirk wasn’t sure how any sound waves managed to carry in such spongy surroundings. There was nothing for them to bounce off.

But Luz seemed satisfied. She turned right, scuttling away again as Kirk slogged after her.

Luz was pushing on the ceiling when Kirk caught up again. Another round opening grew in the top of the tunnel to nearly a meter wide.

“How did you know where that tube was?” If she was going to keep leaving him behind, he needed to be able to navigate on his own. He didn’t trust any of these Petraw.

Her rapidly blinking eyes and nervous twitching indicated she was about to crack under the strain. “I can see it,” she snapped.

“Be more specific. What is it you see?”

Luz ignored him. She stood up inside the tube, lifting one foot to dig it into the lip. Her toes sank in, giving her a grip. Her legs disappeared up the tube.

Kirk couldn’t see what she was holding on to. So he stood up in the tube, feeling around with his hands. There was nothing but the pliable wall. He figured she was clinging to the polymer the same way he had ambushed her captors.

So he followed her, planting one foot into the tube and pushing until his back braced against the other side. Using that for leverage, he dug the heels of his hands into the wall next to him. It was faster going up than forward.

Luz led him through a long series of tubes, climbing a number of levels and heading deeper into the complex. Kirk was panting from fighting the rubbery walls when she finally turned in to a side tunnel that terminated in a dim cul-de-sac.

“Is there another way out?” Kirk asked.

“Yes,” she said shortly.

Kirk waited, but she didn’t offer anything else. “Listen, we’re in this together, whether you like it or not. I asked you a question, and I expect an answer.”

Luz sullenly gestured to the end of the wall next to her. “This takes us into one of the waste reclamation chambers. Nobody uses this tube because the opening is so high up. But if we have to, we can jump down.”

Satisfied, Kirk sat down next to her, straining to see the wall at the end. It looked no different from everything else. He knew he would have trouble finding his way through the access tubes without Luz. And she was not being cooperative.

Kirk had learned that when all else failed, make friends with your enemy. “Why did you do it, Luz? Why did you take the gateway?”

She glanced over at him. Her face was so different that he kept having to remind himself that he knew this person. If only Dr. McCoy hadn’t stopped him from interrogating her inside the Kalandan station. Luz was obviously unstable. If he had ordered McCoy to stay out of it, he might have cracked her cover. But at the time he had nothing concrete on which to base his doubts. The Petraw were competent con artists, if nothing else.

Luz tried sarcasm to fend him off. “Why would anyone take the gateway? Who wants to transport thousands of light-years in an instant?”

“I wish I could,” Kirk replied. “What I don’t understand is why you betrayed your own people. Surely Tasm was planning on taking the gateway for the Petraw.”

“Tasm!” Luz blurted out, unable to restrain herself. “This is all her fault. She made the wrong decision at every point. I was trying to save the gateway!”

Cannily, Kirk agreed, “You did bring it back to your people.”

“That’s what I told the matriarchs! Tasm is so inept she would have lost it. She was going to try that Klingon ruse herself, to scare you away. It was a inane idea.”

“You used it,” Kirk had to point out.

“Yes, to gain time to secure the station. It worked perfectly for that.” Luz looked proud of herself. “But Tasm doesn’t have a shred of originality. She didn’t think of using the gateway to return home. She would have sent it back on an automated drone, making the Petraw wait another generation before we had this technology to use.”

“So you did help your people.” Kirk added, “Now they’ll find out how the gateway technology works.”

“Thanks to me!”

“Where do you think they’ll take the cylinder to analyze it?”

Luz drew away from him slightly. “I’m not telling you anything! I’m a loyal Petraw.”

“Yeah, so loyal they almost killed you.”

Luz closed her burning eyes. “That’s because Tasm came along and ruined everything! I would be the one accepted into the birthing chamber if she wasn’t here. Another cron and I would have been gone before you arrived!”

Luz put her hands over her face, curling into a ball. Kirk knew it would be useless to try to get information out of her right now. It was depraved the way these people lied and cheated, even their own crew-mates, to get what they wanted.

He no longer felt sympathy for any of the Petraw. To think, this selfish greed was what had brought him so far from his own ship. Kirk turned away from Luz, propping his head in his hand. He almost wished he hadn’t rescued her.

Time blurred together for Kirk, with no way for him to tell when each day had passed. They snatched sleep in the tiny access tubes, leaving only to go to one of the cell blocks where Luz showed him the feedtubes deep inside.

Kirk needed to eat, but it was a strange experience. He had to pull on the strawlike tube until it straightened and dripped a golden liquid. It tasted tart and was rather thick and syrupy. According to Luz, it supplied the nourishment needs of the Petraw in this complex. He was thirsty enough to drink deeply every time he could, but after a while he wished there were some other flavor. He wasn’t used to eating the same thing all the time.

Whenever they left the narrow access tubes, they saw scores of defenders, the bigger Petraw who were searching for him and Luz. At first Kirk thought he had made a tactical error by rescuing Luz, alerting the Petraw that he was on the loose. But Luz knew a great deal about the complex that enabled them to avoid the defenders.

At one point, the search teams were going through the access tubes meter by meter. Luz kept trying to dodge them. They were forced to keep moving or be caught.

“I didn’t want to do it, but I guess there’s no other option,” Luz finally said, huddled in the tube in front of Kirk.

“Now what?” It looked as though their time was running out.

“We’ll have to go into the web. That’s the network of tubes that link a block of cells close to here.”

Kirk had become more comfortable with the towering cells, but he wasn’t prepared for the tangle of access tubes that filled the space behind. He crawled after Luz, sighting workers here and there in the dim light. They kept making sharp turns, climbing up, then down to get away.

Kirk was exhausted from the climbing when Luz uttered something in exasperation. “They’re all around us.”

“I don’t see them,” Kirk protested, looking behind.

“I can feel it in the tube,” she said vaguely. “We’ll have to make a dash for it.”

“For what?” he asked doubtfully.

Luz didn’t answer, opening a tube above them and starting to climb even faster than before. Kirk didn’t try to talk to her, saving his breath for the effort.

After a long ascent, Luz finally paused. She appeared to be listening before she cautiously pushed on the wall next to her, opening the tube. Then she slithered through headfirst.

Kirk emerged into a much larger room. Without hesitation, he lifted his arms up, stretching as tall as he could. He felt as if he were turning into a scurrying bug that inhabited the woodwork.

Luz was kneeling over something. Another tube was opening up.

Kirk sighed, but when she pulled back so he could look inside, it wasn’t a tube as he expected. Below the hole in the ground, it opened up almost as large as the chamber they were in. About four meters down, there was a smooth flat floor. It was a deeper golden color and lacked the inner glow of the surrounding walls.

“Hold on to the edge,” Luz told him. “We’ll hang from here until they pass through.”

“What is it?”

“A nutrient sac, holding the nourishment for distribution to the cells.”

Kirk swallowed. How could he miss that smell of the sweet syrup they drank every day?

Luz swung over the edge, digging her gloved hands into the lip of the sac. Kirk thought he heard voices, and he quickly slid over himself, making sure his grip was good. The opening was already slowly squeezing shut.

He swung slightly next to her. “Can’t we just tread water—or, whatever you call it?”

“The walls are stretched taut. We wouldn’t be able to climb back out.”

She shifted as the opening shrank back to nearly its closed position. Kirk also had to regrip. He hoped none of the defenders would see their fingers digging into the pliant edge.

The smell was overpowering. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if he fell into it, stuck swimming until he couldn’t stay afloat any longer, then finally sinking under….

This time he could feel the slight vibration of people walking around. Maybe because his entire weight was supported by his fingers. He was in agony, trying not to make a sound.

After a while, the vibrations ceased.

“Are they gone?” he whispered, aching to get back out.

“A bit more. They’ll have to check the other sac rooms.”

Luz hadn’t said a word about the interstellar transporter since Kirk had first questioned her. But as they dangled uselessly from the lip of the sac, she finally said, “Tasm is completely inept. You would never have let her take the gateway, would you?”

Kirk looked at her in surprise. “You want to talk about that now?”

“Why not?” Luz was staring morosely down at the nutrient fluid.

Kirk considered the question. “My orders were to keep the gateway from falling into enemy hands. I didn’t trust Tasm, so I don’t think I would have let her take it.” “I thought so.” Luz shifted, getting a better grip. “Tasm would have destroyed your ship to take the gateway.”

Kirk remembered the ease with which Tasm had disintegrated the Klingon cruiser with their quantum torpedoes. “The Enterprise has been in worse situations and survived.”

“Then it’s too bad you didn’t bring your ship with you,” Luz retorted.

“I like a streamlined mission every now and again.” Kirk smiled, showing his teeth. He was not about to indulge in useless worry or let Luz know that this was a particularly tight spot he was in. Confidence was the key to success. If he didn’t make it back to the Enterprise, he would have plenty of time later to think about failure.