CHAPTER 3: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
He looked at his shipmates, all fast asleep, then back at her. She still said nothing, but motioned again. Come. He got up and followed her. She walked out of the cave. Then she walked into another cave entrance, next to the first, but one which had not been there before. This arose more questions in Cona's positronic mind, but he still followed.
This new cavern was filled with computers, beds and other assorted items, including a single box stall in which her horse noisily chomped on a bale of hay. The woman removed her hooded fur coat. Beneath it, she was dressed in Starfleet uniform, and showed the rank of Lieutenant.
Then she spoke. "You have many questions, I'm sure." Cona nodded slightly. "Well, I can give you at least some of the answers you seek. I'm Lieutenant Kaimana Rayn, Starfleet. You are in the desert of Mol Duj and this," she motioned around the crowded cavern, "is my bIghHa'."
"Prison?" Cona asked curiously when he recognized the word.
"Yes, in a way." She explained. "Many times I have tried to leave my planet, but the Klingons prevented it. That is how I named this desert. Mol Duj is Klingon, which is also my native language, for 'ship's grave'."
"But why not live in the city? Why live miles into a vast desert?"
Kaimana walked over to her bed and sat down on it. "That question I will answer tomorrow. But I presume you have other questions as well?" Nodding, Cona began.
"Earlier, you disappeared at the entrance to the cave. My tricorder no longer registered you. How did you accomplish this?"
She laughed. "A little device I invented. A personal cloaking device." At this, Cona was interested. "I modified a Klingon cloaking device to be portable and activated by my telepathic patterns. That is also why you did not register my presence before our first encounter."
"Interesting," Cona commented, then switching topics, "You said you were an Lieutenant. You attended the academy?"
"For four years. I was last assigned as ship's counsellor to the USS. Falcon."
"That ship was destroyed near this sector..."
"..By the Klingons in a surprise attack," she finished for him.
"Nearly a year ago. There were no reported survivors."
"I had been on shore leave. They were a day late in picking me up, and I was thought to have been already among the crew."
Kai walked restlessly across the room, then back to Cona. It seemed to Cona that she had something else to say, but wasn't sure how to say it.
"Why are you anxious?"
She shifted uneasily when he mentioned it. "I have been monitoring your ship, Commander; and it is currently, as they have been for the past five hours, engaged in a battle with a Klingon Bird of Prey. At present, the odds are strongly against your ship winning." She sighed but this time spoke with confidence. "However, there is a way we can help. That is why I brought you here. I can gain access to the Klingon's computers, but I need help to neutralize the cloaking device. This would, shall we say, 'even the odds'."
"How can I be certain you are telling the truth?" Cona was beginning to get suspicious.
"Contact your ship. They will be able verify all the information I have given you." The statement was clear, but totally illogical.
"Surely you are aware of the added ion in the atmosphere."
"Quite aware, Commander. It was the reason I could not and have not contacted Starfleet Command. However, I am pleased to say I have broken through the interference, enough to allow orbital communication only, by way of a low-band, sub-frequency pulse."
Cona took out his communicator and adjusted it to her specifications.
"Cona to Dawntreader, do you read?"
Static, then Kenny's excited voice. "Commander! Are you and the landing party all right?"
"Yes, Mr. Kent. What is your current condition?" Cona could hear the red alert alarm in the background.
"We're under heavy attack from a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Shields failing, I don't know how much longer we can hold out."
"Do your best. The Captain or I will contact you later; Cona out."
Turning back to Lt. Rayn, he said, "What must we do to help?"
"As I am a telepath, I will telepathically contact the Klingon HoDpu' (Captain's) mind, to get the access and de-cloaking codes. I will in turn relay them to you, where you will enter them into that computer console."
"Will not the Klingon Captain be prepared for such an attempt?" Cona questioned.
Walking to a near-by chair, she sat down and answered his inquiry. "Once, there was a time when he would have been. But then they (the Klingons) attacked our planet, and destroyed nearly all the true telepaths. A group that decended directly from the only female Klingon telepath to marry a Vulcan, we are recognized by the blue amulet-like membrane that radiates when we are in telepathic communication. I am the last of those true telepaths," she brushed her bangs aside to reveal the amulet shaped skin. The Klingon Captain knows not of my existence. But let's not dwell on that. I'm ready to begin."
Cona nodded in acknowledgment, and turned to face the console.
Shortly, Lt. Rayn spoke again, the amulet on her forehead shimmering a silver-blue beneath her bangs.
`qaStaHvIS wa' ram loS SaD Hugh SljlaH qetbogh loD.'
Entering the codes with android efficiency and speed, Cona was able to de-cloak the Bird-of-Prey. Just then, Cona's communicator beeped. He answered.
"Cona here."
"Sir," was the reply, "I don't know how you did it, but the Klingons are backing off!"
"I didn't do it, Mr. Kent. A Mikellan named Lieutenant Rayn of the USS. Falcon did."
"The Falcon? Wasn't that...? I thought there were no survivors."
"Apparently inaccurate information. I will have the Captain contact you later on this frequency. Cona out."