The Rings of Tautee Read Online Free PDF Page A

their stations.
    As the wave passed and the lights came back up, McCoy's voice came over the intercom. "You want to tell me what in blazes is going on? I have patients bouncing all over down here."
    Kirk punched the comm button. "We'll tell you just as soon as we know. For now, just hang on.
    Kirk out."
    THE RINGS OF TAUTEE Mr. Chekov turned around. "Captain, we have company."
    "On screen, Mister."
    Kirk let go of the command chair and turned to face the main screen as the view of the destroyed planets disappeared and was replaced by four Klingon cruisers.
    They floated there as if they owned the space.
    "Red alert," he ordered.
    As if they didn't have enough problems already.
    Chapter Five CAPTAIN KELLY BOGLE stood in front of the main viewscreen on the U.s.s.
    Farragut. He had come out of warp at the edge of the Tautee system to find himself with two separate problems. The strange destruction of fifteen planets, and his sister ship, the U.s.s.
    Enterprise, surrounded by four Klingon cruisers.
    Bogle knew that Kirk could handle the four Klingon ships[*thorngg'he'd seen Kirk handle bigger problems[*thorngg'b Bogle didn't like the implications. Four ships to one Federation vessel, a destroyed star system all around them.
    That special Klingon weapon he'd heard about must have been a doozy.
    He turned. His bridge crew was at their profes34 THE RINGS OF TAUTEE signal best, which meant they had been startled by the sudden turn of events just as he was.
    His helmsman, Diego Rodriguez, watched their course as if they were flying through an asteroid belt.
    The communications officer, Julie Gustavus, kept one hand to her ear as she monitored the intership communications.
    Several ensigns read nearby computer screens with great focus, as if their entire careers depended on it.
    While Kelly Bogle could match Jim Kirk drink for drink in any officer's lounge in the galaxy, while he could play poker with equal skill, and while he could tell tall tales as well as any officer in the fleet, he did one thing differently he dominated his ship. Bogle didn't believe in the camaraderie that Kirk used to bind his people. Bogle did it with sheer determination, a quest for perfection, and rigid discipline.
    And it had worked for years.
    He would need all of that discipline right now.
    Bogle sat back and studied the situation for a moment. His main focus had to be the Enterprise. The systemwide disaster had developed over the course of days and possibly weeks. The Enterprise had only been in the sector a few minutes before the Farragut.
    That meant that the Klingons had been there first. They would have to deal with the Klingons first in return.
    "Any sign of hostilities?" Bogle asked.
    Dean Wesley Smith and K ristine Kathryn Rusch Commander Richard Lee glanced up from his science console. A shock of red hair fell over his forehead. Lee's haircut was always too long, and his uniform always needed just a little extra attention, all items he'd been cited for many times before. But Bogle didn't dare discipline him too hard.
    Lee was the best science officer that Bogle had ever worked with. The last thing he wanted to do was chase him away.
    "No hostilities yet, sir,", Lee said.
    "However, the Enterprise is at full alert."
    Lee glanced back down at his scope, then continued without looking back up. "So are the Klingons.
    I'd say something is going to happen any minute now."
    Bogle nodded and turned to Rodriguez.
    "Move us into position right behind the Enterprise. Let's let the Klingons know we're here."
    "Aye, sir," he said.
    The rest of the crew continued their monitoring.
    Bogle sat in the captain's chair, extending his long legs outward. Within a few moments, the Enterprise filled the screen with the four Klingon vessels beyond and above it.
    "Nice work, Ensign," Bogle said.
    "We're being hailed by the Enterprise, was Gustavus said.
    "On screen," Bogle said, leaning back.
    Captain Kirk's face filled the screen.
    He looked pale, and his hair was