Star Trek - TOS - The Tears Of The Singers Read online

  STAR TREK

  THE TEARS OF THE SINGERS

  BY

  MELINDA SNODGRASS

  PUBLISHED BY POCKET BOOKS NEW YORK

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents

  are either the product of the author's imagination or are used

  fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons,

  living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Another Original publication of POCKET BOOKS.

  PO KET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 21230C Avenue of

  the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020

  Copyright 0 1984 by Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

  Cover artwork copyright 0 1984 by Boris Vallejo

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or

  portions thereof in any form whatsoever. Fbr information address Pocket

  Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020

  This book is Published by Pocket Books, a Division of Simon & Schuster,

  Inc., Under Exclusive License from Paramount Piotures Corporation, The

  Trademark Owner.

  ISBN 0-671-50284-0

  Fust Pocket Books Science Rction printing September, 1984

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  STAR TREKO is A Trademark of Paramount Pictures Corporation Registered In

  the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  Printed in the U.S.A.

  Prologue

  An ice green sea lapped softly at the sparkling sands and crystal ch& of the

  strange, silver-lit world. Along the length and breadth of the glittering

  beach played the junior Singers. Cubs, perhaps, although the adults resting

  in their icrystal

  grottos showed no parental interest in the small furry youngsters who

  tumbled, hummed, chirruped and warbled on the beach below them.

  The hunters stepped carefully, yet uninterestedly, through the gamboling

  packs of silver white creatures. The little fellows were cute enough, with

  their pale blue eyes and ingeniously smiling faces, but the money lay with

  the adults. Long and sleek they reclined M*' their grottos, unmoved by the

  icy wind that whipped off the whitecapped ocean. Their eyes had darkened to

  the profound midnight blue of adulthood, and they seemed to be stanng into

  a place beyond time as they blended their strange siren voices into an

  intricate and never-ending song.

  It behooved a man not to look into those eyes when he fired

  7

  The Tears of the Singers

  the electric current that stilled yet another voice in the mighty chorus.

  Those who had, described it as looking into eternity, and they didn't seem

  like men who had enjoyed the sight.

  So they learned to do their work cleanly and efficiently, concentrating

  only on the rewards to be gained when the crystal tears were marketed back

  on Earth or Rigel, or any of a hundred other Federation worlds where men

  and women adomed themselves.

  The creatures made no move to escape or even acimowledge their destroyers.

  They merely continued their particular harmony as the humans laboriously

  climbed the treacherous cliffs, and placed their shockwands at the base of

  a Singees skuEL One of the hunters fired, and a discordant cry pierced

  through the perfect harmony of the song. The creature rolled ponderously

  onto its side, its eyes secreting a viscous blue substance. The "tears," as

  the humans had dubbed them, soon solidified into the gleaming gems so

  prized on civilized worlds.

  The man swept the seven crystals into a soft leather pouch. Something

  caught his attention, and he fished back the last jewel. He held it up to

  the diffuse light, and frowned when he noticed a minute flaw in the

  crystal. A bit of sand had become embedded in the gem, warping its perfect

  symmetry and color. Grumbling, he tossed it down the rock wall, where it

  shattered with the sound of a thousand bells. It was an eerie and

  melancholy sound in the frigid air.

  a

  Chapter One

  James Kark was bored. Tim was an unusual state for the captain of the U.S.S.

  Enterprise, but one which was an too common when he found himself trapped at

  a star base for routine maintenance.

  He fiddled with Ids desk communicator, and debated about calling that

  attractive maintenance engineer he had met yesterday when she had been

  poking about the computers, much to Spock's irritation.

  He dismissed the notion with a quick shake of his head. He wasift in the

  mood for groundside company, however attractive. What he really wanted was

  the companionship of his own people, and God alone knew where they had

  gotten to. He supposed he could make a circuit of the more exotic sakmxm,

  and no doubt stumble across McCoy or Sootty or both, but even bar crawling

  had lost its allure.

  With a sigh he poured a drink, Ilipped on the reader and tried not to think

  about the four days still remaunng before

  9

  The Tears of the Singers

  they could leave. He had barely found his place among Nelson's strategies at

  Trafalgar when his door page chimed.

  "Come," he called eagerly, and snapped off the reader. In his present mood

  it didn't matter who was outside so long as they took him away from his own

  company, and the nineteenth century.

  "Captain," Uhura said as she stepped through the door. 66 I'm glad we

  caught you in." Her slender body was swathed in a wrap of gold material

  which left one dark shoulder provocatively bare. Long golden earrings swung

  from her lobes, and tinkled softly with each step she took. Spock followed

  her through the door, his hands clasped characteristically behind his back.

  Uncharacteristically, he was wearing his dress uniform.

  Kirk raised an eyebrow in unconcious finitation of his first officer, and

  a smile tugged at his lips. "You two are dressed to the nines. What's the

  occasion?"

  "I fail to understand what the numeral nine has to do with the lieutenant's

  or my choice of attire, Captain."

  Kirk swallowed a sigh. "Old Earth phrase, Spock," he explained. Spock

  nodded slowly, and seemed to withdraw into that Vulcan space he inhabited

  so much of the'time.

  "I had a feeling you might be getting itchy, so we came to see if you'd

  like to attend a concert with us," Uhura said.

  - "Concert," Kirk said somewhat dubiously. Music was not one of his

  favorite pastimes although he did enjoy listening to Spock and Uhura's

  impromptu performances aboard the Enterprise.

  "It is highbrow, Captain, but it's really worth hearing. Guy Maslin is hem

  for two days only, and he'll be performing Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Weston,

  Turak, and several of his own works as well." She gave him a pleading look.

  "The bad boy of classical music, eh?" Kirk asked, tugging at his lower lip.

  "He might better b
e described as this century's Mozart or Vurak," Spock

  stated.

  10

  The Tears of the Singers

  "However, his interstellar temper tantrums are of more interest to a tin

  ear like myself, Mr. Spock," Kirk said with a twinkle in his hazel eyes.

  "I managed to beg an extra ticket from Commander Li," Uhura said. "And it

  would be nice if you would join us."

  "How about you, Spock? I don't want to horn in on you and the lieutenant,"

  he said with a teasing glance to the beautiful communications officer.

  "Hardly, sir. The lieutenant and I merely share an.interest in classical

  music. Your presence would offer no intrusion."

  Kirk spread his hands in a gesture of surrender. "What can I say to such a

  generous offer but-I accept." He left his friends and offi6ers waking while

  he quickly changed into a dress uniform.

  Kirk was enjoying the concert. Maslin really was a virtuoso pianist, and

  the beauty of the outdoor concert hall, with its surrounding umbrella trees

  silhouetted against the night sky, diamond-hard stars and form-contouring

  chairs seemed to ease the jitters he had felt earlier in the evening. The

  Star Base 24 symphony orchestra wasn't precisely the Terran Philharmonic,

  but they were certainly enthusiastic, and Kirk had a feeling that Maslin's

  talent and presence could have made a jug band sound good.

  The fights dimmed for the second half. Spock slid into a half-meditative

  state while Uhura sat bolt upright on the edge of her seat, hands clasped

  tightly about the program, eyes riveted on the still-empty piano stool.

  Kirk leaned in to her and whispered, "Are you about to develop a crush,

  like ten thousand other women on a hundred other worlds?"

  Uhura gave him a decidedly insubordinate look, and turned back to the

  stage. There was a ripple of applause as Mastin strode into view. He took

  his place at the piano and, with an impatient gesture, brushed back his

  falling black forelock.

  The Tears of the Singers

  Kirk had just settled back into his seat when there was a light touch on

  his sleeve. He looked up to find a young ensign standing nervously in the

  aisle next to him.

  "Sir," he whispered under the rising opening chords of the orchestra. "I

  have an urgent message from Commander Li. He requests that you report to

  his office at once, sir."

  Kirk leaned across Uhura to touch Spock on the arm. Instantly he was the

  focus of the Vulcan's attention. "We've got a problem upstairs, and I think

  I'd like to have you along.19

  Spock nodded, and followed the captain into the aisle. Uhura rose to

  accompany them, but Kirk pushed her firmly back into her seat. "Stay and

  enjoy for us. I'll let you know if I need you."

  "Yes, sir," she said gratefully.

  Kirk and Spock trailed the ensign out of the hall as Maslin joined the

  orchestra with a brilliant allegro run that marked the entrance of the

  piano in his Concerto for a Dying World. Spock paused briefly to listen,

  then gave a nod of satisfac tion and stepped into the courtyard lobby of the

  outdoor concert hall.

  Commander Li's office was on the top floor of an immense skyscraper at the

  edge of the spaceport. The commander's desk was framed by a

  floor-to-ceiling picture window which overlooked the shuttle landing area.

  Li rose from behind his desk, hand outstretched; and Kirk wondered, as he

  stepped forward, why all base commanders had similarly situated offices. It

  was either a bureaucratic mandate from Star Fleet or a way for

  now-deskbound captains to get closer to the stars they had lost.

  Us office was, however, less austere than most. Several fate Chinese

  scrolls hung on the walls, and a celadon bowl rested on the broad desk.

  Spock picked up the fragile bowl, turning it almost reverently between his

  long fingers.

  12

  Tim Tears of the Singers

  "Tang dynasty,- Li said with a proud smile. "A fine piece, isn't it?"

  "Exquisite would be more accurate, Commander."

  "Tbank you, Mr. Spock." Kirk took a chair, and declined one of the thin,

  maroon-colored Beleteguese cigars that the tall Chinese commander affected,

  to the ruination of the atmosphere in any room.

  "sorry to pull you out of the concert. I would be there myself if this

  problem hadn't arisen. My wife is still there, and probably cursing me with

  every breath for deserting her." He paused to puff the cigar to life.

  "I take it from your call to Captain Kirk that this represents an off-world

  problem requiring a starship's assistance?"

  "Correct." U pressed a button on his desk, and a large viewing screen slid

  over the window. "A week ago the freighter Wanderlust sighted a strange

  spatial effect near the Thygeta V system. The freighter was returning to

  pick up some hunters which it had dropped on Thygeta, which is the only

  planet of any interest in the entire system. It was then that it noticed

  the phenomenon.

  "Ibey radioed us for instructions, and we requested they take a closer

  look. Apparently something happened to the Wanderlust during that

  investigation, for all that remained to be found by one of our patrol

  scouts was their jettisoned communications buoy."

  "No debris?" Kirk asked.

  "None. It's as if Captain Ridly realized he was in trouble, jettisoned the

  buoy, and then vanished--he and his ship with him.99

  "This phenomenon?" Spock prodded gently.

  "Oh yes." The commander ffipped another switch on the desk console. The

  room darkened, and the holograms taken by the Wanderlust in its last

  moments Bowed across the screen. Captain Ridly's voice maintained a running

  commentary under the swirling images.

  13

  The Tears of On Singers

  "It's like nothing I've ever seen before. It's almost as if the granddaddy

  of all aurorae boreales had been rolled up and moved to this remote comer

  of the galaxy. We're coming in

  for some buffeting now, and wait Ridly gave a

  nervous laugh. "An insane sensation ... I just tasted

  music." There was a long pause while the incandescent lights

  played and rippled across the screen. "We're all beghming to

  experience strange sensory hallucinations. People are feeling

  colors, tasting and smelling sounds. It's weird-no, wait!

  Something's beginning to happen to the ship!" A babble of

  voices rose over Ridly's rapidly hysterical commentary.

  "Thrul" they heard him shout. "Tam! Jettison buoy! Jettison

  buoyl"

  The screen went dark.

  Kirk felt the air gust from his straining lungs, and he realized he had

  been holding his breath during the death throes of the Wanderlust. There

  was an almost subliminal shivering along his nerve endings, and he felt

  suddenly cold even though the room was a comfortable seventy-two degrees.

  He realized that he could have dealt with the loss of the freighter more

  easily if there had been a blast of destructive force that had left debris

  and rubble in its wake. This sense of nothingness, of a ship and her crew

  helpless in the face of something they could not understand, filled turn

  with disquiet.
That could have been his ship. The emotion passed as Kirk

  pushed away his foreboding.

  "So you want the Enterprise to check out this phenomenon?"

  "I'm afraid we have no other choice. Computer analysis by the scout ship

  indicated that the space/time distortion is spreading outward from the

  Thygeta system. I know it pulls you off your assigned course toward the

  Romulan neutral zone, but I've cleared it with Star Fleet. They agree this

  should take precedence over brandishing the big stick."

  14

  The Tears of the Singers

  Kirk smiled at Li's sally, and cocked an inquiring eyebrow at Spock. "Any

  questions, Mr. Spock?"

  The Vulcan shifted in his seat, and steepled his hands before his face. "I

  would question whether there is anything peculiar to this area of space,

  the local star or surrounding planets which might account for this effect."

  1A shook his head. "We've had computer analyses of the star and the

  surrounding area drawn from the data banks of the survey craft which listed

  the system. As for the planets, aside from Thygeta they are lifeless balls

  of rock or gas giants."

  ",And Uygeta?"

  "The area has only recently been opened to exploration, and the only point

  of interest would be to exDbiologisft or zoologists. Unfortunately there

  hasn't been enough money to mount an expedition to Thygeta."

  "And what's on Thygeta that the Federation would want to?" Kirk asked.

  "The planet is inhabited by a strange mammalian species."

  "Intelligent?"

  "One hopes not, since the planet has become a mecca for fortune hunters."

  Kirk looked puzzled, and Li enunciated two words. "Crystal tears."

  "Oh," Kirk said. "I see."

  Spock broke in. "Forgive me, Captain, but I do not see. What are crystal,

  tears?"

  "The galaxy's newest and most costly craze," Li explained. "My daughters

  are all hounding me for a tear. So far I've been holding them at bay since

  the cost is astronomical."