Peace was a fragile thing.  The words of philosophers and statesmen 
alike would never echo through the deep bounds of space, though.  The 
sound and fury of war never troubled the ears of the beings that fought 
in the void.  Only the vast spectacle, expanding through the universe at 
the speed light carried it, would be there for every future generation to 
see.  Mere ripples in the tapestry of time.  Eyes not yet born on worlds 
unfathomable distances away would watch history unfold generation after 
generation.  The folly of beings they never knew would be fodder for 
their philosophers and statesmen.  Likewise, the courage of far off 
peacemakers would be their hope.  A hope that they might avoid the 
dreadful cycles of history itself.

     Under the shadow of a burnt husk of duranium alloy and metals there 
was a virtual darkness.  It drifted against the system's single yellow-
white star, casting a shadow into eternity itself.  Two thousand voices 
were silent in the darkness, victims of an accident of time and position.  
Beyond the shadow, near the brilliant solitary eye of the star itself, 
artificial light pierced the void.  Streamers of verdant green and bloody 
red crisscrossed the night, probing for a purpose higher than eventual 
dissipation in the depths of space.  Like pinpricks they turned and 
burst, becoming small novas swallowed in seconds.  Larger beams swallowed 
space, searching for suitably larger targets.  The battle was young yet, 
and could be anyone's to have.  
     Suddenly the dark side of the husk lit with a prismatic flash of 
rainbow light.  From the flash came a soft blue glow, rising in intensity 
until the charred metals were cast like twilight under the star ahead.  
Soon that too faded, as a new shadow cast itself into the dark.  The 
shattered husk drifted onward, loosed on a course to eventual, final 
destruction.  What remained to be determined was whether it was a fate to 
be shared by the newcomer.  The battle was young.

     "Excellent work, Mister Saavik."
     "Sensors indicate the main Gorn fleet has yet to fully engage, 
Keptin.  The Orion force will be outnumbered when they do."
     "Very well, Mister Saavik, I want this ship between the two fleets, 
full impulse."
     "Aye, Captain."
     "Status on reinforcements, Mister Spock?"
     "Estimated time of arrival is thirty point two standard minutes, 
Captain."
     "Very well, Uhura, hail the fleet commanders, I want to speak with 
them."
     The pause was brief but welcome.  The bridge of the USS 'Enterprise' 
functioned flawlessly at the command of James T. Kirk.  The approach at 
warp in the sensor shadow cast by the destroyed spaceliner gave them the 
surprise he needed.  The innocents lost there may not have perished for 
nothing more than mere fortune.  There were still more lives on the line 
than the ones just lost.  Kirk's fingers kept a tight grip on the sides 
of his command chair.  His body pulsed with the same flush of adrenaline 
that seemed like such an old companion.  
     From behind, he heard a frustrated voice, "No response from either 
commander."
     Kirk expected nothing more in reality.  There were some regulations 
to follow, though.  "Tactical," he snapped.  The forward viewscreen 
flashed from a far off view of the developing engagement to a tri-
dimensional display depicting the main ships and the smaller, shuttle-
sized craft that were currently fully engaged.  Though the computer had 
no comprehension of irony, the Gorn ships were in green, the Orions in 
red.  The solitary blue glyph on the screen represented the single 
Federation ship in the area.  Beneath it drifted the tag: NCC-1701-A.
     "Analysis Mister Chekov?"
     "It will be pure weight of numbers, Keptin, the Gorn have the Orion 
forces outnumbered and outgunned.  The Orion commander chose his ground 
well, but even the intermittent plasma discharges in the area won't 
effect the Gorn ships significantly enough to give them an advantage."
     Kirk nodded his agreement, then swiveled around to face the science 
station.  "Will we see any effects from the plasma discharges?"
     Captain Spock shook his head, "No, Captain, our navigational 
deflector will dissipate them.  The Orion and Gorn vessels however may 
suffer from intermittent difficulties with sensor and weapon lock, much 
like a nebula, only more diffuse in its intensity."
     "So we stop this or the Orion's get slaughtered, and a lot of Gorn 
with them," Kirk said distantly.
     "Essentially, Captain."
     The chair returned forward, and his glare intensified.  "Saavik, how 
long until we're separating them?"
     "Three minutes, Captain."
     Kirk looked to his Russian tactical officer, "Will we be there 
before the capital ships engage?"
     "Barely, Keptin."
     "Any response to hails, Uhura?"
     "Negative, Captain."
     "Damn."
     The 'Enterprise' slashed through space; her long, soft gray hull now 
fully illuminated by the growing blaze of the system's star.  Light from 
the smaller ship's engagement patterns danced off the leading edge of the 
primary hull.  Plasma energy flared then dissipated against the concave 
dish of the blue navigational deflector, spinning off in short cascades 
of light that appeared as sparkling discharges in the starship's wake.  
     Kirk watched the tactical display with growing annoyance.  He knew 
he needed more time.  Just slipping 'Enterprise' between the two forces 
would not be enough.  Once there, he would have to convince them to 
settle for a cease-fire.  If the main fleets engaged seconds after he 
arrived, he would not have that chance.  His fist slapped the com pad on 
the right side of his command chair, "Mister Scott."
     "Aye, Captain."
     "We'll need the shields and deflectors as long they can hold, divert 
power from nonessential functions as necessary, and keep me updated."
     "Aye, Captain."
     Kirk was virtually certain his engineer did not need the reminder, 
but it kept him busy.  He rose from the chair, eyes noting the ETA 
counter on the lower left of the tactical display.  He walked up beside 
his first officer at the science station, "We need to slow them down."
     "Indeed," Spock observed, eyes shifting around the various displays 
currently active at his station.  One was the tactical, modified to show 
points of plasma discharge.  "Here, Captain, I believe this may achieve 
our objective.  Our navigational deflector is able to discharge the 
plasma around the 'Enterprise', preventing interference with ship's 
systems.  Suitable modification to the deflector pattern should not only 
discharge, but attract, and discharge."
     Kirk nodded, "We focus the plasma disturbances and discharge them 
between the fleets, knocking out their sensors as long as there's enough 
ambient plasma."
     "Precisely."
     "What effect will it have on us?"
     "Shield output must be boosted to accommodate the stronger 
discharge.  While operating at that level, only class one essential 
systems will be operational," Spock said in characteristic baritone, 
betraying no emotion.  "Once the process is terminated, rerouting power 
will require a minimum of two minutes for full operational capability."
     The options were clearly laid out for him.  The certain solution or 
the gamble.  
     Saavik's voice drifted across the bridge, "Thirty seconds out, 
Captain."
     "Retune the deflector, inform Mister Scott of your intentions.  
Mister Saavik, steady as she goes."
     Again, the bridge moved fluidly at his command.  Kirk rose from the 
command chair of 'Enterprise'.  In a fit of nervous discharge, he stepped 
up between Saavik and Chekov to study the tactical display.  The seconds 
counted down, drifting below twenty now.  He turned back to the science 
station once more.  Two things comforted Jim Kirk.  The first was the 
almost imperceptible hum of the deckplates beneath his feet, the hum of 
his ship.  The spirit was the same, if the ship were different than the 
one lost five years ago over a world long gone now.  She was the 
'Enterprise'.  The second was the presence of his first officer, science 
officer, and friend on the bridge.  
     "Spock...?"
     "Retuning almost complete, Captain."
     "Time..."
     "Fifteen seconds," Saavik responded.
     "Keptin, the Gorn fleet is engaging," Chekov announced.
     Kirk turned back to the screen.  The tactical's representation of 
the battle was suddenly crossed from left to right with probing red 
beams.  "Uhura, any response to hails?"
     "None, sir."
     "Dammit, we're almost on top of them, they've got to know we're 
here," Kirk muttered in frustrated tones.
     Spock announced, "Retuning complete, we will need at least seven 
seconds to gather a charge."
     "5 seconds, to midpoint, Captain," Saavik reported.
     "Prepare for evasive."
     Behind her primary hull, the intensity of her impulse exhaust dimmed 
and maneuvering thrusters began to brake the heavy cruiser's approach.  
The brilliant yellow discharges of energy from the Gorn fleet ships lit 
'Enterprise' from her port side to her bow, shimmering against her gray 
hull and snapping through the trenches of her energized deflector grid.  
The yellow white light of Gorn meson beams soon was overcome by the 
snapping red-orange swirls of plasma which gravitated towards 
'Enterprise''s navigational deflector like it was a light blue 
singularity.  The turbulence of the plasma storm began to spark the 
shields of the Federation ship, painting her secondary hull and lower 
saucer in a dull white glow.
     "Orion cruisers engaging, Keptin!"
     Blue beams arced through space at long range from the prowls of the 
smaller Orion craft; met immediately by renewed meson streams from the 
Gorn.  Two Orion ships fell first, shields collapsing from multiple 
strikes.  They came apart in a shower energy and debris, spinning outward 
to smash into the nearer ships in the Orion fleet.  Like cosmic eddies, 
the ships struck heeled to port and attempted to correct their course, 
only to be caught by further angry emissions of Gorn energy.
     "Spock..."
     "Sufficient charge available," Spock said.
     Kirk wasted no time, "Fire!"
     The red-orange glow of plasma energy that hung like a tempest before 
the secondary hull of 'Enterprise' vanished in the space of a second, 
cast off like streamers in the wind.  Kirk shook with his ship, feeling 
her struggle with the task he set her.  "Status!"
     "Discharge complete in two seconds, Captain!" Spock cried across the 
din of alert klaxons.  
     Across the small reach of local space, Gorn and Orion commanders 
suddenly found their targeting systems inoperable.  The snap of plasma 
discharge played over their shields, cutting power relay, and scrambling 
their sensor systems.  The whipping shots of meson and disrupter fire all 
but vanished as the last thin tendrils of plasma whipped off from the bow 
of the 'Enterprise'.
     The bridge was bathed in red light, giving the Federation uniform a 
tint of black as officers and enlisted alight fought to keep the heavy 
cruiser functioning at capacity.  Kirk watched them work, unable to do 
more than rely on their own initiative and their ability to follow his 
orders.  He snapped a switch on his command chair, "Mister Scott, status 
report."
     "She's holdin' together, Captain, give me a minute to get the 
shields back, though," came the clear, if labored voice over the inter-
ship com.  
     "Scotty, make it faster, Kirk out."
     "Captain, the Gorn commander is hailing us, audio only," Uhura 
reported.
     Kirk almost smiled, "About time.  Uhura, put him through, and make 
sure the Orion's hear this."
     "Federation starship, remove yourself or be destroyed."
     Kirk's face fell somewhat, he had hoped for something a little more 
original.  "Gorn commander, this is Captain James T. Kirk of the 
Federation starship 'Enterprise', you will cease your hostile actions and 
remove your fleet beyond the nearest moon.  Any further attempts to 
engage Orion forces will be met with a hostile response."
     "Federation starship, we will not retreat, leave or be destroyed.  
Even Kirk can't triumph in the face of our superiority."
     Jim Kirk sat pensively only for a moment, briefly dismayed that his 
own notoriety had ways of working against him.  He was becoming 
accustomed to it.  Spock watched him.  The half-Vulcan had deduced his 
friend's plan some time ago.  His logical sense cried out to warn of the 
danger of this plan of action, to deride the rational capabilities his 
friend gambled the Gorn and Orion would have.  His humanity merely 
trusted a man he had known almost 30 years.  A man who was very rarely 
wrong.  
     "Gorn commander, I won't argue with you there.  I will inform you-"
     "-Further Federation interference will be met with deadly force, 
this is not your affair."  The power of the Gorn's words were translated 
through the open channel.  
     Kirk hoped the Gorn commander would enjoy the same clarity of 
thought.  "Gorn commander, any attack on this ship will be met with 
similar force.  You may destroy us with superior numbers, but then your 
quarrel with the Orion Protectorate will pale in comparison to your war 
with the United Federation of Planets.  I do not intend to move this 
vessel.  You will engage at your own risk."
     There was no reply.  
     "Status, Mr. Chekov...?"
     "Both fleet's holding, Keptin."
     "Good, we got their attention."  He turned back towards Spock, "How 
long will their sensors be effected?"
     "A minimum of three minutes, assuming standard Orion and Gorn 
maintenance proficiencies."
     Kirk nodded and took advantage of the brief pause to see to his 
ship.  "Scotty, time 'till main power is restored."
     The disembodied Scotsman's brogue again rang through the bridge, "30 
seconds, Captain.  We'll be fully operational then."
     Kirk did not argue, he could only wait now.  The 'Enterprise' held 
station between the two fleets, neither one converging.  Aboard both 
fleets, crewmembers worked frantically to restore sensor and targeting 
capabilities.  Kirk could only guess what the Gorn commanders were 
thinking.  He wondered briefly what Spock would counsel, but let the 
thought dissipate quickly.  The gamble was in place, there had been no 
time to take a poll on his decision.  No matter what, Spock would support 
him.  McCoy would as well, though certainly with a somewhat more colorful 
reservations.  The thought caused his finger to snap down on his arm rest 
internal communications suite.  
     "Bones, what's your status?"
     "Twistin' in the wind, Jim, what's going on up there?"
     "We're waiting Bones, but stay put, Kirk out."
     Kirk wanted his best surgeon in place in case his gamble did not pay 
off.  Although, admittedly, it might not matter for long.
     "Keptin!  A Gorn cruiser is powering weapons!"
     Kirk's head snapped to Spock in wordless communication.
     "Confirmed, the Gorn cruiser is moving to impulse power, Captain."
     "Saavik, ready on evasive."
     Spock continued, "There appears to be a flurry of communications 
between the Gorn ships."
     "Analysis?"
     "They could be attempting to test our resolve-"
     "-Or a Gorn captain is exercising some initiative," Kirk reasoned, 
the irony not lost on him.  
     The Gorn cruiser pulled ahead of its hovering comrades, bearing down 
on 'Enterprise'.  The Federation starship heeled to port on maneuvering 
thrusters, displaying her face to the approaching Gorn ship.  Kirk did 
not want her larger profile presenting a larger target for Gorn gunners.  
     "Scotty, I need those shields..."
     "Ten seconds Captain!"
     "Dammit, Uhura, get me that ship!"
     "No response, Captain."
     "The Gorn wessel is in her weapons range now!"
     From the frontiers of a divided Europe to the outposts of the 
Neutral Zone, Jim Kirk faced down the danger of his chosen course of 
action.  The use of outgunned forces on token border patrols was a well-
established method of international and interstellar relations.  No 
Starfleet commander truly believed that any particular starbase on the 
neutral zone could repel a surprise assault by Romulan or Klingon forces.  
No, it would merely be a matter of numbers.  However, the lives lost 
would provoke a response of deep severity.  It was no different from the 
men standing on the western side of the Fulda Gap during the Cold War of 
old.  The 'Enterprise' and her crew were now a tripwire at the behest of 
her captain.  
     In the short run, he had to buy time for reinforcements to arrive.  
In the long run, keeping the Gorn and Orion from slaughtering one another 
would only help foster an agreement in the future.  
     The risk remained.
     "Incoming!"
     The cry of his weapons officer came in concert with the stabbing 
beams of meson energy from the Gorn cruiser.  No sooner had Checkov's cry 
started than had Kirk's call of "evasive" and Saavik's fingers darting 
over the helm console.  'Enterprise' slid to starboard and dropped 
towards the galactic ecliptic.  The twin beams of energy sliced over the 
primary hull, lighting the saucer in a bath of yellow-white light.  Kirk 
felt his ship shudder beneath him.  
     "Full power restored!  Shields operational!" came the cry of her 
engineer over the intercom.
     "Saavik..."
     The Romulan-Vulcan half-breed did not bother to acknowledge the 
order, she had already keyed the shields into place.  The shields 
energized as third beam tore at the navigational deflector.  The blue 
tint caved further inward to an orange glow as the 'Enterprise' shook 
from the impact.  Kirk's knuckles were white as he grasped his command 
chair.  
     "Gorn commander is hailing us!" Uhura shouted over the alert 
klaxons.
     "Shut that damn siren off, and patch him though," Kirk replied.  
Uhura nodded to him and he looked up slightly, "Are you willing to risk 
war over this!?"
     "Commander, 'Enterprise', the ship now attacking you does so without 
authority.  You will not experience interference from our fleet should 
you return fire."
     As if in punctuation 'Enterprise' shook once again.  Kirk nodded, 
"Very well.  Broadcast that fact to the Orion fleet."
     "We will neither fight nor talk on this day, Commander, 
'Enterprise', End transmission."
     The channel went dead.  Kirk cursed, then turned to Uhura, 
"Broadcast on all frequencies that the Gorn ship is a renegade!"
     Chekov broke in, "Keptin, the Gorn cruiser is disengaging from us, 
sir.  It is assuming a heading directly into the Orion fleet."
     "Saavik, intercept course," Kirk snapped.  "Ready phasers and photon 
torpedoes, I don't want the Orions to fire a shot before we do."  Kirk 
turned back to Uhura, "Any response from the Orions?"
     "Negative, but I'm sure they can hear us."
     "Good enough," Kirk said, then turned back to the main viewer.  
'Enterprise' shifted to starboard once more at Saavik's command.  Her 
impulse engines once more took on a red glow as the ship immediately flew 
into motion.  The slightly smaller Gorn vessel sank away, unwilling to 
challenge the Federation heavy cruiser at full strength.  'Enterprise' 
leapt after it.  Two weaker Gorn meson streams probed her shields once 
more from the rear.  Energy danced and discharged along the deflector 
grid, a thin strip of carbon appearing near the registry extension "A" 
under her primary hull.  Nothing but cosmetic damage to the hull as 
'Enterprise' continued to pursue.
     "Still no response form the ship," Uhura reported.
     "At least the Orions have not engaged it," Spock offered.
     Kirk nodded, "They heard us, whether they want to admit it or not."
     Checkov stated the question on Kirk's mind aptly, "The Gorn wessel 
is in range, why has it not fired on the Orions?"
     "He can't get away," Kirk said, more to himself than anyone else.  
He considered the problem from the Gorn's point of view.  Change the 
equation, find another solution.  _Oh my..._  "Chekov, ready on photon 
torpedoes and phasers!"
     Spock began, "Captain, I am detecting a-"
     "Fire!"
     Chekov did not hesitate, "Firing."
     Pulses of ruby-red energy leapt from the lower forward phaser banks 
of 'Enterprise'.  They caught the Gorn amidships, stabbing against her 
shields.  The torrent of directed light snapped through the shields but 
did relatively little damage after that.  
     Until the two photon torpedoes struck the unshielded hull.  
     Gouts of flame and debris erupted from the center of the Gorn ship 
as she began to tear herself apart.  Hullplates and charred components 
spun into space, blasting from the center of the brief, small nova that 
had been the Gorn cruiser.  Soon the fury ended, swallowed up by the 
hollowness of space itself.  Debris glanced off 'Enterprise''s 
navigational deflector as she changed course and assumed a heading to 
bring her back to the midpoint of the two fleets.  
     Spock appeared completely unaffected.  "The warp core breach was 
imminent, Captain.  The difference between controlled and uncontrolled 
reaction was point oh-five milliseconds.  Apparently the Gorn vessel 
masked the build-up prior to release."
     "I reasoned it was his only course of action, given the 
circumstances, Mister Spock."
     "Very logical."
     Kirk accepted the high praise from his Vulcan first-officer with a 
distracted nod.  He was not finished here yet.  "I want both commanders 
on open channel, Uhura."
     After a moments work, Uhura gave a satisfied nod, "You're on."
     "To commander Gorn and commander Orion, I sincerely hope we will 
have no further incidents.  Again, I request the two fleets pull back to 
neutral locations and await the arrival of a Federation mediator.  
Otherwise, we're back where we started from, and in-" Kirk looked to 
Spock who gave him the information he required without a specific 
request, "-in fifteen point seven standard minutes I will have two 
Federation battleships assisting me."
     "Commander, 'Enterprise', the Gorn will withdraw."
     The transmission began and ended in a single breath, but Kirk felt 
satisfied.
     "Kirk, the Orion do not recognize Federation mediation, but we will 
withdraw.  You won't be around all the time, and eventually, this fight 
will be finished.  Orion commander out."
     The fight for the _status quo_ had been won.  Jim Kirk seated 
himself in his command chair once more, knowing that it was, nonetheless, 
the best he had any right to hope for.  The 'Enterprise' was in one 
piece, and there would be no more deaths on this day.  The passengers and 
crew of the wayward passenger liner would not thank him, nor would the 
Gorn commander who felt he had successfully solved his problem.  More 
lives...  Kirk sat silently for a moment as the bridge lights came up 
from red alert.  
     "Sensors confirm both fleets are withdrawing, Captain," Spock 
reported.  Only Kirk could catch the barest hint of relief in his voice.  
     'Enterprise' held station as the fluttering impulse drive lights 
appeared to either side of her.  No more searing beams to disturb the 
cold shower of space here.  Only the endless silence.  Kirk felt the 
weight of victory once more on his shoulders.  He watched them separate 
on the viewer, 'Enterprise' still in the middle.  The tripwire safe once 
more.  How many more times would such audacious risks of life would be 
necessary to keep the peace?  The diplomat in him, the who created the 
tripwire, told him "as long as necessary."  The warrior, the one manning 
the tripwire, said, "as long as its effective."  McCoy would probably 
just laugh at him.  


     Two hours had past since the mutual withdrawal of the Gorn and Orion 
forces.  'Proxima' and 'Agincourt' arrived on station to serve as 
shepards to the flocks of smaller starships.  The long, sleek forms of 
the 'Excelsior'-class battleships were impressive as the smaller crusiers 
and destroyers fell into formation with them to be escorted back to 
undisputed space.  The long transwarp nacelles of 'Proxima' dwarfed some 
of the Orion blockade runners that grouped near her.  The Gorn fleet 
ships fared only slightly better under watchful prow of 'Agincourt'.  
'Enterprise' set her course alone, falling back towards Gamma Hydra and 
the spacedock facilities there.  Her minor scratch would be lovingly 
repaired by her chief engineer.  
     Kirk watched thoughtfully through the four tall bay windows that lay 
below the bridge docking port.  The small lounge was not his perferred 
place of retreat, but he wanted to remain near the bridge in the event of 
another emergency calling his beloved ship back to duty.  The eyes of 
Leonard McCoy and Spock watched with him as the Federation starships and 
their charges went into warp and winked out of exsistence.  
     "I doubt they'll be causing anymore trouble with those behemouths 
hanging around," McCoy noted.
     "Sort of drives the point home," Kirk said with a nod.
     Spock began, "I doubt, Doctor McCoy, that the mere size of the 
'Excelsior'-class battleship is its most imposeing factor."
     McCoy huffed, "Spock, may I remind you that some people don't keep 
combat satistics lodged in our heads for easy recall.  We just like to 
think that 'bigger is better.'"
     "Really Doctor, I believe this ship has disprooven that addage time 
and again, don't you?"
     McCoy seemed about to argue, then, thought better of it.  "Why 
Mister Spock, do I detect something other than simple Vulcan pride in 
that statement?"
     "I was merely stating fact, nothing more."
     "Of course," McCoy allowed graciously.
     Kirk cut off whatever clarification Spock may have concocked, 
believeing that enough had been said on the matter.  Some things needed 
no explantion.  
     "Come, gentlemen, we have work."