From istannor@aol.comnospam Mon Jan 31 23:07:44 2000
Title:The Play's The Thing
Author: Rob Morris
Rating: G
Part: 1/1
Summary: A remix of TOS and I Spy. The episode is Conscience of King
Kirk was blunt, as one might expect.
"Mister Robinson, the only reason I am shuttling you to your next
hyperball match are the combined requests of Starfleet Command and our late
mutual friend, Dr. Leighton. I consider myself to be in the middle of a
potential murder investigation, possibly leading to something far bigger. I
most pointedly do not consider The Enterprise to be a limousine for dilletante
celebrities. Am I clear?"
Kelly Robinson appeared unimpressed, and merely leaned on his
racket-frame.
"Oh, clear as crystal, Captain Kirk. Uh--can I go now? I'm meeting with
my trainer. Wouldn't do to get out of practice, now would it?"
As much as Kirk wanted to find the words to wipe the arrogant smile off
of Kelly's face, he had more pressing concerns. What would have
surprised him, then, was that Kelly and his trainer were on board
because of those selfsame concerns.
Walking to Engineering, Jim saw his Chief Engineer chatting amiably
with Robinson's trainer.
"Scotty?"
Both men responded as one.
"Yes?"
The Engineer raised a Spockian eyebrow, as he had since the two men
were much younger, and the same thing would happen.
"Captain, I have done ye a great disservice. This is my rogue of a
cousin, Alexander Scott, disgrace and heartbreak to The Clan Scott!"
Alexander "Scotty" Scott nodded mockingly at Montgmery "Scotty" Scott.
"You'll have to forgive Monty, Captain. You see, the man is an
unrepentant bigot. He firmly believes that an English University like
Oxford can offer a good Highlander nothing but corruption."
The Engineer nodded, just as mockingly.
"It surely robbed you of your good honest accent, Alex. Ahh, but its
good to have you here. Captain, sir--you are staring at the best
improviser a gagdet ever saw. It runs in the family."
Alex agreed.
"Actually, Captain--when the wind begins to blow, and you are wearing
those kilts near The Arctic Circle, you find the entire family starts
running!"
Scotty followed his Captain, while Scotty met with his partner. Each
had their own concerns.
"Other than the tabloid trash, what do we have on Kirk?"
Alex Scott shrugged.
"Not much. Parents deceased. Never married. One son. Ruthless opponent.
You don't want to go up against him--ever."
Kelly looked up.
"Ok. Give me a for-ruthless."
Alex sat down.
"Monty swears by him, and that's good enough for me. You can't fool
that man, and that's with five fifths in him, mind you. But--I wouldn't
put it past Kirk's planning brain to murder all those people, just to
draw Karidian out in the open. Not that I think that's what happened."
Kelly re-read everything they had, which was precious little.
"Kirk is not our suspect. Never was. Tom Leighton had it called right.
Koridian is Kodos. Its all there."
Alex threw down the papers, a little upset.
"So? We have authority. The ship has a brig. The man is a murderer,
thousands of times over--just what in blazes is The Company waiting
for?"
Kelly more than understood his friend's anger.
"Scotty, you and I both know that Section 31 keeps its own counsel. But
on this one, I agree. They want Koridian exposed as Kodos, during a
performance, with legal, useable evidence on hand to begin prosecution
with. More and more remote colonies are being built. The UFP wants those
governors to know--we don't forget. You pull something--we'll find you.
No more 'regrettable but neccesary' actions. End of that. They get ideas
about how things 'should be', they go away. Far, far away. For a really
long time."
Alex appeared calmer, but still disturbed.
"Kelly, this organization is beginning to stink from the neck down. Do
you know that they've drawn up a plan to create and fund an alliance of
malcontents, just to draw them out into the open? The Section is going
to base them in The Badlands. Those poor fools will be taking orders
from the very people they'll think they're rebelling against."
Kelly was no happier about this, but offered some perspective.
"One--its not a new plan. The old American CIA did the same thing with
Operation : Militia. Two--it worked pretty well, except for Oklahoma.
Three--The Director will never approve that kind of thing, in the modern
era."
Alex had the last word.
"The Director is an honorable man. So are the people likely to succeed
him. Its the people after them that worry me. Unless hell freezes over,
and they get us behind a desk."
While the two agents plotted how to expose the butcher-turned-actor,
Alex's cousin talked with his Captain.
"Captain---a word, in strictest confidence?"
Jim Kirk nodded.
"Of course."
"Cousin Alex was not fond of wearing a kilt, even when the occasion
called for it. Would you like to know why?"
Kirk trusted Scotty enough to let the conversation go where it might.
"Yes, I would."
Scotty's eyes showed he was quite serious, despite his speaking in
code.
"Because---kilts are known for not hiding secrets terribly well."
Kirk thought this was some kind of innuendo, until he fully analyzed
Scotty's words. He then knew what the other Scotty and his partner
really were.
"Yes...I understand. Thank You, Mister Scott. A most enlightening
anecdote."
Kirk arranged with Spock to have an eye kept on the hyperball pros. He
wished that his experience in The Mirror World hadn't forever soured him
on the idea of an internal locator program. But then, men like Scott and
Robinson could probably evade that with little effort.
A few hours later, Kirk recieved a call from Sickbay.
"Bones? Is anything wrong?"
"Jim--Kevin Riley is dead. Please come down here, as soon as possible."
When he arrived, Kirk was massively displeased, but not for the reason
he was drawn down for. He looked daggers at one of his dearest friends.
"You lied to me, Doctor. Over the ship's intercom, no less. Now you
will tell me why, or I swear, Bones, I'll put you off the ship."
Kelly Robinson and Alex Scott emerged, with the very-much alive Kevin
Riley in tow. Kelly spoke up.
"He was acting under our authority, Captain. I'll assume you know the
name on this document?"
Kirk glanced, a bit put off by what he saw.
"Yes, its a name that I've forgotten on many an occasion. What's your
game, Robinson?"
Alex Scott took point.
"Captain Kirk, we know that your dealings with The Company have been
few and sour. That's in contrast to our dealings, which have been many
and sour. I'm asking you to trust me now as you would the man who keeps
this ship's heart beating. Now, he told me that you have his trust.
Well, I also have his trust, and Kelly in turn has mine. We all want the
same thing--the murderer, and Kodos. I say we take all that extended
trust and work towards that goal together."
Kelly followed through.
"If they think they got Riley, they'll concentrate on you. Now, no
offense to our young friend, here, but I've got a feeling that you'll
survive what's to come next, where he might not."
Kirk shook his head.
"That sounds good, but Scotty--Kelly--you keep talking like Kodos is
not our murderer."
In what must have been a Scott family quirk for ages, Alex closed his
eyes, and gently shook his head.
"That's because, Jim--he's not."
Kirk went his own route, hoping to trip Karidian up. But neither a
recitation of the infamous 'Tarsus Apology' nor the romancing of his
only daughter helped to nail the slippery character down.
McCoy became concerned.
"Spock, how do any of them know that they're going to prove Karidian is
Kodos?"
"Doctor, do you know how our guest agents found Karidian's true
identity?"
"No, I have to say I don't."
"Quite simple. They combined all circumstansial evidence, and then
checked his public speaking record. He is quite fond of saying that he
is the Macbeth's Macbeth."
"So?"
"Doctor, don't all professions have superstitions? Lines that are kept
uncrossed for no logical reason?"
McCoy nodded.
"The Scottish Play. That's what actors call Macbeth, for fear of bad
luck. Then, Karidian has not been an actor all his life. A small thing,
Spock. But it either shows a man who is incredibly arrogant, or tortured
by guilt, waiting to be caught."
"The Play, Doctor, Is The Thing."
The play, in this case, was Hamlet, and Kirk stepped onto stage to say
a few words beforehand.
"I ask at this time, that we remember Lieutanant Kevin Riley, who left
us a few days ago. Kevin's parents were, as some of you know, killed on
Tarsus Four, almost twenty years ago."
The troupe of actors stayed back, waiting for Kirk to finish. And they
would wait.
"They, and many thousands of others, were killed by---"
Kirk pointed at a stunned Karidian.
"This man, Governor Kodos. I have, until now, kept my direct
eye-witness status quiet. But now, Mister Karidian, you'll answer for
your crimes. All of them."
Just offstage, a trigger was repeatedly squeezed--to no avail. Alex and
Monty Scott grabbed the phaser and an angry Lenore Karidian. Monty held
her flailing arms still.
"I've no desire to strike a lady, but you I'll make a clear exception
for, lassie, if you move again."
Alex held up the phaser, showing its empty bottom.
"Funny thing about phasers, you see. They need power to run. Otherwise,
they're just plastic costumery--like you use in a play."
Backstage, Kelly played hardball with Kodos.
"Your little girl is going down, Governor. Multiple murder charges. Not
pretty. Now, is it a full-blown trial for you, and she goes to a penal
colony, or do you confess, denounce your actions, and she gets sent to a
decent rehab colony?"
Lenore struggled.
"Father, No! You did nothing wrong!"
A new arrogance flooded the actor's face.
"No. I did not."
Kevin Riley came out of hiding. He looked Lenore in the face.
"Shut your useless mouth."
Kevin then punched her, sending her sprawling. Kodos was infuriated.
"Why? Your grievance was with me!"
Riley looked over, and hoped his career wasn't over. But at that point,
he regretted nothing.
"You killed my parents. There was no way that hitting you was going to
hurt you as much as watching what I had to. A lot of lives were ruined,
there, on Tarsus. Some of those kids who lost their parents - ended up
in prison. Got me?"
Kodos saw Lenore led away, and nodded at Kelly.
"It would seem my greatest performance yet awaits me. The Great Mea
Culpa."
Kodos would go to the Brig, and be transferred to a Starbase for
extradition to Earth. The statements he would make indeed persuaded many
a remote governor not to become an executioner for expediency's sake.
On the Enterprise, Kelly's admission of directing Riley's actions did
not help the young man with his Captain.
"Riley--you've had your vengeance. Now find another ship. Mister
Robinson--you are the least manipulative member of S31 I've ever dealt
with. I do not mean that as a compliment, though. The need for your kind
disgusts me, frankly."
Kelly nodded.
"Jim--it disgusts me. But will you at least concede the need is there?"
"I want to, Kelly--but I can't. Mine is an overt world."
Kelly grinned, and shrugged, as he an Kirk walked down the hall.
"Overt--overt. Tell me, who taught you that word, Jim--the android
Doctor Korby or Zefram Cochrane?"
Jim sat and talked with Kelly Robinson a while, and his words cut the
starship Captain a bit deeper than he would have liked.
( This next part is just for fun )
---------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Alex Scott went with his cousin Monty. Monty asked a
question of Lieutanant Uhura.
"Uhura--my cousin's with us for a few more nights. Now I know you're
seeing someone--but do you know which of the ladies isn't?"
Uhura looked pensive.
"Fellas--the only one I can think of is Claricia Rashduxtable. Fair
warning, though. She embodies the words 'strident shrew'. She likes to
shout her men down, always has to be right or else, and tries to control
the lives of just about everyone around her."
Alexander Scott shrugged.
"What's the problem? She sounds like a wonderful woman to me! Tell
me--does she like chocolate pudding?"
====
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