Demands of Honor by Kevin Ryan Read Free Book Online

that can accommodate approximately eight passengers and crew.”
    Kirk knew the ship. “It’s a yacht.”
    â€œAye. Fast enough for a private vessel, but it doesn’t even have proper navigational deflectors, let alone defensive shielding,” Scott said, shaking his head.
    Spock shook his head. “The craft is designed primarily for short trips through charted systems along known spaceways.”
    â€œI presume, then, that it doesn’t have any weapons?” McCoy asked.
    Scott shook his head. “Not this model. The main energizer would never support them.”
    â€œAnd due to their ideological bent, it is unlikely that the Anti-Federation League would perform the dramatic upgrades necessary to allow for weapons of any kind,” Spock said.
    â€œSo they marched into Klingon space on a pleasure craft?” McCoy said.
    â€œApparently,” Spock said.
    â€œAnyone with any experience in space would know that the Klingons would see the arrival of an unarmed ship as an insult at best,” Scotty said.
    His statement hung in the air for a moment until Security Chief Giotto broke the silence. “Captain, the crew of the
Harmony
chose to enter Klingon space. They were aware of the risks.”
    Kirk nodded; he knew how the lieutenant commander felt. “However, we are under an obligation to provide assistance in this case. Though they are members of the Anti-Federation League, they are still Federation citizens.”
    â€œCaptain, with all due respect, we also have an obligation to get to System 7348 before the Klingon battle cruiser arrives. If we don’t, the Klingons will have time to fortify their position,” Giotto said.
    Kirk saw the serious concern in the chief’s face and understood it. He also knew that more than one of his department heads and the other assembled staff were thinking the same thing. “The issue we have here is do we take a significant risk to save the lives of people whoshould have known better, or do we attend to a larger duty to protect the Federation from a bigger and graver threat: Klingon incursion. Now, we do know that right now civilians are in custody of Klingons and no doubt have a very short time to live.” Kirk waited a moment for that to sink in. “They are in real and immediate danger, but we might be tempted to ignore the situation to concentrate on the problem posed by the Klingon warship approaching System 7348 because of what they may and likely
will
do when they get there. Certainly, no one would blame us for continuing to the system because of the grave threat that ship poses. However, I will not trade the lives of civilians for what might happen, or even what probably will happen. We will not compromise who we are even if it means risking our larger survival.”
    There was a flash of understanding on Doctor McCoy’s face, and a raised eyebrow on Spock’s, which amounted to the same thing. Once, when Kirk was young, he had seen a man named Kodos execute four thousand colonists on Tarsus IV because of a food shortage. At the time, the decision had had a cold logic: the colony’s food supply had almost completely been wiped out, and the entire settlement could not survive until resupply ships came. Kodos had expressed regret and then done what he said was necessary to preserve as many lives as possible.
    The decision was indeed logical. However, it was not only an immensely immoral decision but a fatally flawed one. Through a series of events that no one could have foreseen, the supply ships had come early, and Kodos became one of the most hated names in the galaxy.
    Kodos the Executioner had traded the lives of thepeople under his protection to serve a larger purpose. Kirk would not do the same.
    â€œI thank you all for your input, but my decision is final,” the captain said.
    â€œUnderstood,” Giotto said. The chief’s people would carry out any rescue mission and would be in