Star Trek: The Original Series - 147 - Devil’s Bargain Read Online Free PDF Page A

nearly wiped out life entirely. The Enterprise will be dwarfed by it. Trying to use our weapons against such a menace would be like trying to hold back the tide.”
    “But how do you know unless you try!” exclaimed Hannah. “Go now! Go and destroy it!”
    “If only it were that simple,” said Kirk. “We have encountered technology that would be capable of deflecting this asteroid. The extinct race known as the Preservers had one such system in place withinthe Amerind system. But, as of yet, Federation scientists have not succeeded in duplicating this apparatus. We have been able to deflect other asteroids at times, but never one this size, at such close quarters and traveling at such velocity. Mister Spock?”
    Spock considered the alternatives again briefly but shook his head. The facts added up to a certain conclusion, and to ignore the facts would be mere wishful thinking—a mental activity Vulcans found extremely wasteful.
    “The momentum of the asteroid must be taken into account. The mass headed toward your planet is traveling at about one hundred and three thousand kilometers per hour, which is twenty-nine kilometers per second. Assuming we had the ability to blow it to pieces, you would still have the same mass headed for Vesbius with the same kinetic energy, only now it would be akin to a barrage rather than a torpedo. This would make little difference in the ultimate outcome. It would distribute the destroying energy over a much larger area, perhaps causing even greater damage, depending upon where the fragments hit.”
    “But you could deflect the smaller pieces, perhaps,” said Hannah, not giving up hope.
    “The problem is twofold,” Spock replied. “If we were to somehow blow the asteroid apart—and I have no ideas how to do that at this point—the resulting debris would need to fall within exactlythe correct size and mass parameters for the Enterprise ’s deflector and tractor beams to have a useful effect. If they were too large, the deflectors would not work. If the debris were too small and scattered, we would not be able to deflect it. Any attempt to destroy the asteroid must be an attempt to destroy it in an exacting manner; in the way a jeweler might break a large diamond into smaller ones. As I stated, I can think of no way to achieve this with our current technology.”
    “And you cannot leave it intact, yet deflected from its current path?” asked Chancellor Faber. “Use the Enterprise as a pushing or pulling engine?”
    “The problems are essentially the same,” Spock replied. “The energy required to sufficiently alter the directional vector of an asteroid traveling at one hundred and three thousand kilometers per hour this close to your planet is quite simply far more than the Enterprise can generate.”
    Merling, who had been listening to Spock’s lecture on asteroid dynamics with a mixture of horror and seeming satisfaction, appeared unable to take any more. “Don’t you see we have to get out of here!” he shouted to the other Vesbians. “If an alien creature such as this understands the danger, is it not clear we have no choice?”
    “We do not have the choice to leave,” said Hannah Faber. “The Council has had this discussion, and all understand that evacuation is not an option.”
    “Then we must make it one!” Merling continued. “We must alter ourselves even further, make it possible to leave, save what we can, and form into a stronger, more centralized society as a result. We know Vesbians are better. This will be our chance to prove our superiority!”
    Chancellor Faber stood up and turned to his aide in anger. “Now you have gone too far, Merling! You will cease to discuss these matters in front of our guests. Do you understand? This is not a matter for anyone other than ourselves to consider.”
    The major drew back in his chair, abashed. He held his hands up and shook his head. “Very well, Chancellor, I will do as you command, of course. But my