DAY 131 (fri) cont ...
And so they finally came to the room that they had been told contained at least one Katric Arc. The chamber was large, with six pillars and at the back were four large jars. Also, to Kirk's surprise there as Yuyu, the vulcan woman that had taken them part of the way to this underground area.
She explained to them that each of them would be tested if they sought to take an Arc from the chamber and all that they needed to do, was for one of them to touch one of the jars.
Kirk went up and touched one and suddenly he found himself in a little village in some mountains. He had the feeling that he had just been teleported there. He also saw that he was now wearing simple trousers, work boots and a thick shirt. He wondered if he was in some kind of hologram reality.
It seemed to be a small vulcan village with a wall all the way around it. There were only three people in evidence, going about their business, chopping wood and hanging out washing. One of the vulcans seemed to be a priest of some kind and Kirk went over to chat to him.
'Hello Paul,' said the priest.
Kirk greeted the fellow and they talked for a bit. The priest then said,
'Could you perhaps go and check on Julia? You know her well and no one has heard from her all day.'
Kirk said that he would, then went and talked to the man chopping wood.
This fellow was happy to talk and they discussed the fact that the mine had been closed for a while now since the murder of Gahral, Julia's husband. The wood chopper was of the opinion that the mine was now haunted.
Kirk took this all in, then went to Julia's house. There was no answer when he knocked so he opened the door and went inside. It was just one large room divided up into a sleeping, eating and living area. The bed was unmade and their were dirty dishes on the table.
He looked at the window facing the mountains. He noticed that the frame had been picked at, as if by agitated fingers.
Kirk returned to the priest and reported her absence.
'Most disturbing,' said the priest. 'I wonder if she could have gone up to the mines. Could you take a look? Since her son died she has been very ... emotional. Perhaps she has gone there.'
When Kirk said he would go, the priest thanked him and handed him a lantern.
It was no more than an hours walk from the village to the mine. There was a vulcan man stood outside the mine who ask were he was going. When Kirk replied that he was going into the mine the man said,
'Then take this knife. The mine is a dangerous place these days.'
Kirk headed into the mine, his lantern in one hand and the knife in the other. After ten minutes or so of exploring deeper into the mines he came across a miner, holding a lantern and a dagger, whose clothes were covered in blood. The man seemed highly agitated.
'What have you done?' asked Kirk.
'I haven't done anything!' said the man as he tried to get past.
'You seem bloody...'
'Julia spat at me!'
Kirk let the man pass, but then had second thoughts and chased after him. He tried to get the man to drop the knife but he fought back. In the struggle that followed the man was stabbed and killed although Kirk had done all he could not to draw blood.
Kirk then went down the tunnel that the man had come from and discovered Julia slumped in the corner of a small cave.
He went over to check her out and found she was still alive and conscious.
'I came here to die!' she exclaimed. 'I wanted to kill myself here to be close to my husband, but the man that was just here took the knife I tried to stab myself with. I can't stand the misery any more! Please finish me off!'
Kirk thought for a second, but decided he could not.
'Coward!' she cried, then coughed up a mouthful of blood that she spat at him.
Kirk checked her over. She had a big knife wound in her chest and he realised he would not be able to move her without killing her. He rushed back off the way he had gone to get some help.
One the way he met a man coming the other direction who stopped him and said,
'I heard moans! What have you done?'
'She's gravely injured, she stabbed herself, we need help,' Kirk replied.
'Why do you have a knife?'
'Ah ... a guy at the entrance, it was offered to me.'
'Why do you have blood on your overalls?'
'Julia stabbed herself, she spat blood over me ...'
The man nodded and let Kirk pass.
And with that it all faded out and Kirk found himself back in the Arc Chamber.
Kirk and his crew discussed the test. It seemed that each of them had done the same thing, but that when Kirk had come back out of the mine the 'man' he had met had been Paterson.
Paterson had let Kirk go, but had then been slain by Ceres who had then in turn been slain by Murphy.
As the test was a test of mercy, Paterson was give permission to take the Arc and given a spiritual gift of the preservers as her reward. As Kirk and Celes had shown mercy on Julia they got a partial reward. As Murphy had shown the least mercy and had killed both Julia and the 'man' (Celes) he received nothing.
They took the Arc, returned to the surface and wasted no time in leaving Huroc. Paterson got them safely into orbit and took them out of the system.
DAY 133 (Sat)
The Caco spent the day going as fast as the could (Warp 7) towards the rendezvous point with Voyager. They were followed at a polite distance by the Gallactico.
DAY 134 (Sun)
The Caco spent another day at Warp 7, heading towards Voyager.
Gallactico requested an interview and since no one else wanted to do it, Kirk himself did it. He played it as straight as he could and tried not to look a fool even though the interviewer, Set Artlee, was sarcastic in nature.
Later Kirk received a private message from the producer, Avril Yelmo, asking if he could help arrange access to the Arc. Ideally Yelmo wanted to film the entire process of Mieon being taken from Kevek and put in the Arc.
Kirk said he would see what he could do.
Also Dell reported that had been working on Adam and that the AI seemed to be in some sort of deep long term diagnostic process. The Avatar had totally shut down and was about as alive as a block of stone. The AI core had a new personality, a secondary process that called itself Gueeq and seemed to be pretty angry about everything. Dell thought the best thing to do was leave the AI to it.
DAY 135 (Mon)
The Caco spent another day at Warp 7, heading towards Voyager.
Captain Janeway asked for a report from Kirk and he returned it later that day.
He also mentioned that the Gallactico had helped him on the mission a lot.
DAY 136 (Tues)
The Caco arrived at the Drydax, where Voyager was present.
The crew of the Caco reported to med bay and were checked over by the Doctor. They were riddled with viruses picked up in Huroc but he tutted and fussed and sorted them all out.
As part of a deal cut with the Gallactico, Lumnar (the big blue Gornand), Marion and Guyus were shipped back to where they belonged. Webble decided to stay and was sent to Neelix to train as a cook.
At Kirk's debriefing Janeway admitted that Kirk completed the mission ... eventually.
She also chastised him for the episode involving the death of several Huroc vulcans when the Caco fired on the castle tower during the rescue of James Adam.
'Just as you made an error in judgement ordering Dell to fire on the tower I suppose
I made an error in judgement in sending you on a mission that you were not fully suitable for. It was already obvious to me that you are not a diplomatic man and I was foolish to send you on a mission without anyone with those skills onboard. Lessons learned for everyone then. We'll leave it at that for now.'
Kirk felt he had got off lightly.
Later that day he talked over with Tal Celes their relationship and what to do about it.
Their relationship was against regulations if they were in a chain of command, which they were. Officially they should report it to the captain and have one of them reassigned.
Kirk didn't want to do that, as Celes was the most capable of his crew! He decided to leave it for now. Celes agreed but warned that Murphy could well inform on them.
DAY 137 (wed)
Today Tuvok performed the complex ritualistic process of taking the spirit of Mieon from Kevek's mind and putting it into the Katric Arc.
Janeway had relented and let the Banean's televise it, despite Tuvok's objections.
The Gallactico had been so helpful that she had found that she could not refuse them.
Kirk was present, but after about an hour he grew bored. Once Tuvok had put on his ceremonial robes and walked up and down a bit chanting it was all just the two vulcans sat on either side of a jar staring at each other for hours.
The Banean's lapped it up though, the reporters speculating on every twitch of Tuvok's eyebrow.
Eventually it was done and Kirk retired to his room. Not long after that Avril Yelmo came to visit him with a briefcase stuffed full of half a million credits in the form of Vidiian Crowns. Kirk thanked him very much and bunged it under his bed before someone saw it.
All in all, reflected Kirk, it had all worked out in the end. Mieon was decanted into a jar, Kevek was on the road to recovery and he, Kirk, was a good deal richer. He pondered what he would spend the money one, more weapons for the Caco, or Power Armour?
Or perhaps a nice holiday for him and Celes!
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