The first officer regarded him evenly, raised one eyebrow. "Not legends, Doctor. Vulcan was visited by alien beings in its past. They, however, left us much wiser."
McCoy was preparing a reply when Arex, who had insisted on remaining on duty until the incident was finally resolved, broke in with a report.
"The other vessel is getting under way, sir, heading directly outward along the transmission heading."
"Away from Earth, away from the Federation," Kirk confirmed, watching as Kukulkan's ship began to shrink on the screen. "It's sad. Think what we could do with the knowledge on that ship, held in that mind." He shook his head.
"Unfortunately, the price was just too high."
"I think I know how he felt, Jim," McCoy commented, turning suddenly serious. Spock also turned to look at him. "There's a line from Shakespeare..."
"I remember it, too, Bones." Kirk's voice recited, "'How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child'."
"Indeed, Captain," Spock agreed, filling that terse comment with more meaning than most people could put in several paragraphs.
Kirk sighed, looked back at the screen. It was empty again, empty save for that endless panoply of marching suns. They glowed mockingly back at him, each holding secrets they stubbornly guarded with distance and time.
"Lay in a course for Starbase 21, Mr. Arex. All ahead warp-three..."
From the back cover:
THREE EXCITING EPISODES
FROM TELEVISION'S MOST POPULAR
SCIENCE FICTION SERIES!
- Complete in this volume -
• ALBATROSS
The mission to deliver supplies to Draymia seemed so routine ... until the natives arrested Dr. McCoy for murder!
• THE PRACTICAL JOKER
Suddenly everything aboard the Enterprise ran amok. Someone or something was up to no good ... and it was no longer funny!
• HOW SHARPER THAN A SERPENTS TOOTH
Gods from outer space? It didn't seem likely. Then Kirk and his crew ran up against something calling itself Kukulkan ... and it didn't seem friendly!
- AND DON'T MISS -
Alan Dean Foster, Star Trek Log Six
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