Worlds in Collision Read Free Page A

massive, but Starn’s sensitive ears heard it creak.
    â€œAs there is no crime in the empire,” the Klingon said, “there are no presents, either. The Iopene Cutter is a down payment.”
    â€œUnderstood. What service do you require?”
    Karth shook his head. “This is a foul language. So many ways around the point. Nothing direct. What service do you think, trader?”
    â€œChotneS,” Starn replied instantly.
    Karth glanced over at the Andorian girl. “We shall stay with this tera’ngan chirping. She speaks Hol much better than Standard.” The girl stared blankly. Karth shifted his gaze back to Starn. “I want no heads of state removed, no leaders killed. This will be a simple act of murder, trader, not assassination.”
    â€œWhatever you wish to call it, the service is the same.” Starn shrugged. “Who is to be the victim?”
    â€œDon’t you want to know the price?”
    â€œAfter I know the victim.”
    Karth shook his head again, hands moving slowly to the edge of the desk. “You accept the contract now. You accept the price now. There will be no negotiation once the victim is revealed.”
    Starn considered his options. It was probable he could walk away from this now. But the opportunity for expansion that this meeting offered might not come again. However, if he did commit to the contract, in the end he would still be able to make a final decision concerning who would be the more difficult victim: the one who was now unrevealed, or a certain Klingon civilian.
    â€œVery well,” Starn agreed. Karth moved his hands back to the center of the desk. “But since I cannot know the cost or effort involved in this service, I must call on Klingon honor to seal our bargain. State your price.” Starn was puzzled when he could detect no physiological response to his subtle insult. For a non-Klingon to bargain on Klingon honor implied either that the non-Klingon was an equal of a Klingon or that Klingon honor was suitable for animals. At the very least, Karth should have demanded a test of blood, if not death, but Starn could not hear any quickening of Karth’s breathing rate or see any change in his skin color.
    â€œTwo hundred Iopene Cutters with feedback shields.”
    Two hundred! Starn concentrated on not disrupting his own breathing rate. Whole planets could be taken with a handful of cutters whose beams could tunnel through any force shield by turning the shield’s own energy against itself in perfect counterphase.
    â€œI was not aware that there were that many in existence,” Starn said flatly. Two hundred!
    â€œDo you doubt my word?” Now Starn picked up an immediate flush in Karth’s face and a rapid escalation in breathing rate.
    â€œI simply stated a fact. For such a price I will accept your contract. Again I ask, who is the victim?”
    Karth motioned for Starn to approach the desk. He touched a keypad and images formed on the desk’s surface. Starn watched intently.
    At first he was stunned. Then impressed. The concept was brilliant. By this one single action Starfleet could be reduced to an uncoordinated swarm of helpless ships and starbases. The entire Federation could be brought to its knees. So many past wrongs would be repaid. Starn knew he would have accepted this contract without fee.
    He leaned over the desk, studying the words and pictures, memorizing the diagrams and timetables. Already a plan was forming. It could be done. He was just about to step back from the table when he noticed Karth’s hand on the keypad.
    â€œBring up the initial timetable again?” Starn asked.
    Karth tapped out a three-key sequence. Starn watched the Klingon’s exact hand movements carefully, then stepped back.
    â€œI will be proud to carry out this service,” Starn stated. “But I do have a question.”
    â€œI expect you to have many.”
    â€œFederation officials will not