Captain James T. Kirk had just settled into his first week as captain of the Enterprise when he was called upon to witness a tragedy of the first magnitude. It was he who was on duty when the distress call came in. "Incoming distress signal, Captain. This one sounds very bad," Lieutenant Uhura informed him.
"I'll be the one to assess that, Lieutenant," Kirk replied. At this point, the famed bridge crew of the original Enterprise had not yet established its legendary cohesiveness and intrinsic trust of one another. Nonetheless, Uhura patched the distress signal through to the main viewscreen. "I've boosted the signal as much as I can, sir."
A flickering, static filled image of a woman filled the screen. In the background were sounds of battle and screams of agony.
"This is First Minister Tylara of the Tanzaran Republic. We request Federation assistance! We are under full-scale attack by an unknown force! A biological weapon has been used which has destroyed most of our population, and enemy forces have landed! Your assistance is urgently requested!"
The message repeated. And repeated.
"This is probably a recorded message. We've had preliminary contacts with the Tanzarans: they are a warp-capable civilization and have directly requested our assistance. All hands to yellow alert! Mr. Sulu, lay in a course for the Tanzaran system, maximum warp. Give me an estimated time of arrival."
"Laying in course at 304 mark 7, sir," Sulu replied. "Estimated time of arrival is eight hours."
"Are there any ships closer to that position?" Kirk asked.
Ensign Jorgenson at Tactical, the post which would someday be occupied by the famous Pavel Chekov, replied: "No other Federation assets are closer than 24 hours at top speed. A Klingon vessel is 12 hours away and appears to have diverted."
Uhura added, "The message is also being broadcast to the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, and another group referred to as the Cardassian Union." The Federation had not yet made contact with the Cardassians, but Starfleet's history with the Klingons and Romulans was well-established and none too peaceful.
"Inform Starfleet Command of our intentions, Lieutenant. We've got a rescue to perform!"
"Captain, if I may, given the current diplomatic situation it would be logical to contact the Klingon vessel and notify them that we are also responding. The Tanzaran Republic is in disputed territory," Spock replied.
"Well, if logic so dictates then perhaps we should place another call," Kirk answered, still trying to establish a working relationship with his first officer. "Lieutenant, send a message to the Klingon vessel and let them know we're coming. Be very specific that this is a rescue mission only. Send out the message in Romulan as well, and if we have enough of this Cardassian language in the database send them a message too. No need to start a war when there's already one going on."
Moments later, a response: "Put it on screen."
The fearful visage of a Klingon commander appeared. "This is Commander Kor of the Klingon Imperial vessel Vengeance. We are also orchestrating a rescue effort for the brave Tanzaran people. While we are loathe to admit any weakness it is our considered opinion that the Federation is substantially better-prepared for such an effort than the Empire is currently. Your entry into our rightful space for this purpose only is permitted pending further dialogue between our governments. We will be monitoring you, however. Do not deviate from your stated mission or you will pay grievously."
Then the transmission ended.
"Captain, Starfleet Command has authorized us to enter the Tanzaran system. The Klingon ambassador has been informed and the Klingons have agreed to allow up to six Federation vessels to participate in relief efforts.
Yorktown, Saratoga, and Constitution have already been diverted," Uhura reported.
Good to know the Klingons are at least trying to cooperate. Then again, biological weapons aren't their style; why kill perfectly good slaves? Kirk thought.
Eight hours later was eight hours too late. The attacking vessels were on their way out as the Enterprise was entering the Tanzaran system.
"Captain, sensors indicate twenty-five medium-sized vessels leaving the system at warp eight. The configuration does not match anything in our databases. They appear to be chasing a Tanzaran warp transport which is heavily damaged," Jorgensen reported.
"Hail the fleet, Uhura," Kirk ordered. "Mr. Sulu, intercept the Tanzaran transport." Then, to the intercom: "Bridge to Dr. McCoy: is Sickbay prepared to receive casualties?"
["McCoy here. What kind of damn fool question is that? Of course we're prepared for casualties! Cargo Bay Two has been set up as a triage, and we can open an emergency ward in the shuttle bay if necessary,"] the irascible ship's doctor replied. One thing which Kirk had learned in his first week was that Leonard McCoy was not a man with whom to trifle; abrasive though he was, he was also universally loved and respected by the crew. And, by all accounts, a superior physician despite his affected "country doctor" persona.
"Thank you, Doctor, that will be all. Bridge out," Kirk replied.
"Hailing frequencies open, sir," Uhura reported.
Okay, this is game time: one starship against a fleet of unknown raiders. Can you handle this, Jim? Kirk thought to himself.
"Attention unknown vessels: this is Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, representing the United Federation of Planets. You are attacking a civilian vessel of a planet friendly to the Federation..."
The Enterprise shook to the impact of an energy weapon to its shields.
"So much for talking. Red alert! Mr. Scott: what's our status?"
["Shields are doon thairty paircent, sair! We canna take this kind o' a beatin' fer long!"]
"Hostile vessels are attempting to englobe the Enterprise and the Tanzaran vessel, Captain," Spock reported.
"Mr. Scott, beam everyone we can off that ship. Use the cargo transporters if necessary. Give me maximum warp on my mark. Mr. Jorgensen, arm ten photon torpedoes. When I give you the word, eject, but do not fire, them from the aft torpedo tubes."
"Sir? What do you have in mind?" Jorgensen asked.
Kirk was about to rebuke the young officer for questioning his orders, but thought differently. "A roach motel, Ensign. A twentieth-century device for eliminating common vermin. We're using the Tanzaran ship as bait. The raiders will check in, but they won't check out!" Besides, by not firing the torpedoes, we give the Klingons less diplomatic leverage against us.
["Two hundred an' fifty souls beam'd aboard, sair! What a wretched lot they are, too! Dr. McCoy and his people are already headin' to th' cargo bay,"] Scotty reported.
"Very good. Mr. Jorgensen, eject the torpedoes. Mr. Scott: maximum warp now!!!"
The ship lurched forward. Five of the vessels converged upon the hapless Tanzaran transport... and the torpedoes-cum-mines detonated! The vessels soon vanished, leaving behind secondary debris which damaged most of the rest.
"Remaining ships are leaving at Warp 12.5," Spock replied, raising an eyebrow at the (then) impossible velocity figure.
"I guess they aren't quite as tough when they encounter someone who can fight back. Are they retreating toward the Klingons?" Kirk asked. Spock shook his head.
Too bad... I would have liked to have seen these bastards pay a little more for what they've done, Kirk thought. As warlike as the Klingons were (and prided themselves on being), they abhorred the needless destruction of entire populations and civilizations as wasteful. Better to leave behind survivors to provide tribute and slaves for the Empire!
"Continue on course to the Tanzaran system. Maintain red alert. Mr. Spock, you have the con," Kirk ordered as he left for Sickbay.
"I've never seen anything like it, Jim. Humans haven't used anything this virulent since the Eugenics Wars," McCoy told Kirk as he arrived at Sickbay. A Tanzaran girl who appeared to be about four years old sat on a diagnostic bed, an exam gown replacing the rags she had been wearing when rescued. "From the samples I've taken from this child, it appears to be derived from a local virus which affects Tanzarans in much the same way tuberculosis affects humans: lesions and pustules to the lungs and bones. Except it acts about five hundred times faster! Death comes in days or even hours! I was able to derive a vaccine and a curative, but even with the Klingons helping we'll never reach all of the survivors in time."
"What are the preliminary estimates on the number of dead?" Kirk asked.
"The planet had a population of 1.6 billion. Over a billion have died from the virus alone! Many more were killed in actual combat. One of the older refugees informed me that the government actually started to use thermonuclear weapons on infected cities to stop the plague. That may be the only reason why there are still around 450 million survivors: mainly children. But this plague is there to stay, and with nearly all of the Tanzarans' infrastructure gone, we'll never get to everyone," McCoy replied. "Even if we could get rid of the plague entirely, there's still a lot of other problems: other diseases which are bound to show up on a planet full of rotting corpses, lack of clean water, inadequate food supply... the list goes on and on! The Tanzaran lifespan is many times longer than a Human's, and they mature proportionately. They're not like Vulcans, who reach adolescence about when we do and go on to live up to 250 years. We're talking about a population which will be infants for decades!"
"My God," Kirk replied. "We'll never get to all of them. These... children... are doomed!" Kirk exclaimed.
"Jim, please... she may not know what we're talking about, but she's aware of the mood in the room," McCoy admonished the captain as he pointed to the child on the bed.
Kirk approached the little one, crouching down to her level and smiling. "Hey little one, what's your name?"
The Tanzaran girl looked him in the eye and responded, almost in a whisper. "My name's Jenara. Have you seen my mommy and daddy? Are the bad people coming back?"
Kirk struggled to hold back the tears. He'd been on relief missions before, but never, ever anything like this. "I promise you, Jenara: the bad people are not going to come back. Not if we can do anything about it."
Even with the combined resources of the Federation and the Klingon Empire, providng relief to the Tanzarans proved to be an extremely taxing proposition. Between the six Starfleet vessels which did respond to the crisis and were permitted to enter putative Klingon space, about 10,000 Tanzarans, nearly all children, were evacuated to Earth, Vulcan, and other Federation worlds.
The Klingons took advantage of the situation to occupy the world once known as the Tanzaran Republic, a move to which the Federation conceded because, quite frankly, if the Klingons wanted a plague-infested world populated by starving children they were more than welcome to it. Eventually, however, the Klingons learned that the plague was also transmissable to their race. The first generation of Klingon personnel to serve on Tanzaria became infected and suffered genetic damage resulting in odd-shaped growths of bone throughout their bodies, but especially in their skulls. As with any warrior society, Klingons regard wounds of any sort as a sign of valor. These warriors were able to take many wives, and soon all Klingon warriors clamored for service on the world they calld tanSar'gan. After three or four generations the mutant gene had propagated itself throughout Qo'noS and many of the other principal Klingon worlds. To say that a Klingon "has the ridges of a warrior" is more than a high compliment: it's an acknowledgement of his or her ancestry. The original appearance of the Klingon race (very similar to Humans, except with swarthy skin and vaguely Asiatic features) gradually gave way to the appearance seen in modern times: a fearsome face with heavy bony ridges. Eventually, however, after the destruction of Praxis, the Klingons were forced to abandon tanSar'gan, leaving the world to its own devices.
As for why Klingons won't discuss the matter with outsiders? What self-respecting Klingon would ever admit that his ancestors participated in a mission of mercy?