Kobayashi Maru - Michael A. Martin [1]
PROLOGUE
The Year of Kahless 781 The Klingon-Romulan border
Y A V ANG , H O D of the Imperial Klingon Battle Cruiser SImyoH, studied the main viewer in silence, watching with fatalistic equanimity as the winged specter of death stalked ever closer.
RomuluSngan , YaVang thought, nearly overwhelmed by his feelings of contempt. Cowards, accomplishing by sabotage and ambush what they never could through honorable combat. Given the improbable pattern of malfunctions that had cascaded through virtually every system aboard the SImyoH over the past kilaan, those green-blooded HaDIbaH could only be testing some subtle new weapon of wara weapon that appeared to leave its targets essentially whole, yet largely nonfunctional.
YaVang was therefore unsurprised when the other vessel came to a sudden relative stop off the SImyoH s starboard bow, scarcely a thousand qelIqam s distant. Despite the swirling emerald-and-ocher-tinged eddies that marked the boundaries of the SuDeng Nebula, YaVang could see that the hostiles weapons tubes were still hot. What remained of his own crippled vessels tactical systems could detect no sign that the other ship was attempting to establish another weapons lock.
If only as much remained of our weapons systems, YaVang thought, his fists clenching involuntarily as the moment stretched into a seeming eternity.
“Why arent the RomuluSngan finishing us off? asked Qrad, the callow young gunnery officer who had just taken over the duties of the SImyoH s first officer, RawI Qeq, whose corpse had recently joined the many others that still lay scattered about the smoke-filled, ozone-redolent command deck. Despite his disconcertingly smooth forehead and his lowly enlisted rank of bekk, Qrad had commendably risen to the occasion this day.
Using the back of his gauntleted hand to wipe away a crust of congealing blood from the crisped flesh of his chin, the HoD squinted into the main viewer. Though the attenuated cloud of gas and dust that marked the SuDeng Nebulas ragged edge obscured portions of the hostile vessel, there could be no mistaking the dark, threatening markings that adorned her nearly flat belly. They were the shameful stigma of a lowly carrion-eater rather than the proud striations of an honor-worthy predator.
“Isnt it obvious by now, Qrad? YaVang growled. “Those petaQ want to take this ship.
“But they have not yet boarded us, Qrad said as he consulted the readout on a slightly charred nearby console. “Our intruder alert system still functions well enough to confirm at least that much.
YaVang nodded, grateful that not every sensor system aboard his damaged vessel had suffered the same fate as the now-defunct autodestruct mechanism. Dealing with this treacherous adversary would have been much simpler were it still possible to blow up the SImyoH with a single command. Or even to manually trigger an abrupt explosive release of the warp drives supplies of antimatter. Unfortunately, Chief Engineer Hojlach had jettisoned the entire supply of fuelstocks in the interests of safety after the SImyoH had been essentially crippled by the cowardly RomuluSngan ambush.
The overly cautious engineers corpse was presently tumbling through the void, following roughly the same trajectory as the precious supplies of positive Hap and negative rugh particles that he had squandered.
“Those RomuluSngan taHqeq need not board us in order to triumph, Qrad, YaVang said. “At least, not before our life-support system fails entirely and the cold of space claims everyone aboard this ship who yet lives. He paused, peering toward the com consoles. “Are they still jamming our communications?
“They are, sir, Qrad said, his bizarrely Terangan -like brow wrinkling in barely contained frustration. “They must expect to simply bide their time and wait us out. They will win a cowards victory, and we can do nothing to prevent it.
An idea occurred to YaVang at that moment, like a thunderbolt hurled by one of the long-ago slain gods of QonoS.
“Perhaps, Qrad, he said. “But we need not make