A/N:
Here is my first crack at a Star Trek fanfic. I'm quite excited about this work, so I hope everyone enjoys it. This first chapter might be a little slow, but hopefully the following chapters will be more interesting. Please review if you would like to; I welcome constructive criticism, but, please, no flames!
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own anything but my original characters. Gene Roddenberry and J.J. Abrams are responsible for this fantastic franchise.
Prelude
The air was surprisingly chilled for Damascus, even though the desert nights usually were due to no buffering ocean. The dark streets were abandoned and no sounds could be heard from the surrounding buildings. The creak of a door echoed ominously through the city. A small, dark clad figure peaked through the open door, making sure the coast was clear before stepping out into the night. The, now clearly, female hurried down the alley she had entered, her traditional black Muslim dress swished silently around her ankles and the niqab she wore covered her face.
Adjusting her backpack that draped over her right shoulder, she walked calmly to appear as nonchalant as possible. She had been in legend for nearly eight months to infiltrate the ISIS scourge that had been a growing threat on the agency's radar. But now, with her backpack filled with incriminating evidence of what she really was and vital intelligence, it was time to return to the States. She had killed the three terrorists that were in the house with her, gathered her things, and then left. Once out of the terrorist held city, she would call her handler for an extraction. In her hurry, she failed to hear the footsteps behind her.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Pain tore through her back and left shoulder, stealing the breath from her lungs and eliciting a cry. Turning quickly, she brought up the handgun she had been hiding under her dress and shot twice. Despite the damage to her arm, she managed a direct hit to the man's head and he crumbled to the ground.
Her vision spun as her wounds began to bleed profusely, possibly having punctured a lung. The woman fell to her knees in the dirt as she began to cough up blood that covered the inside of her veil. Gold tracers swam in front of her eyes as blood slid down her back, speeding up until a blinding gold light encompassed her vision until she passed out from the pain and blood loss.
The USS Enterprise was only a few months into its five-year mission; the crew had already investigated dozens of planets but had yet to make first contact with any of the intelligent life they had discovered. Thankfully, they had not been met with much conflict since the Khan incident. Currently, they were exploring a solar system in which a medium-sized, yellow star with three circling gas giants orbited peacefully just out of the reach of a black hole. The black hole itself had an orbiting rocky planet the size of Saturn that was also safe from the voracious, gapping maw.
An away team had been sent to the surface to investigate, even though it had already been determined no life was present. However, it was decided that the transporter was not safe to use in such close proximity to the black hole and the team had been sent via shuttle. While the transporter was in disuse, Chief Engineer Scott took the time to try to adjust the transporter's settings to better compensate for the gravitational pull of a black hole.
Having excused the attendant, Scotty merrily tapped on the touch screen of the transporter's controls, reading over its coding and making tweaks as he saw fit. While he continued his work, the transporter unexpectedly hummed to life and Mr. Scott looked up in surprise as the trademark golden lights began to swirl low to the ground. A black heap of cloth that resembled a humanoid figure was deposited on the platform. Scotty leapt to his feet in astonishment, staring at the unmoving figure as a dark crimson puddle began to form under it and drip down the steps.
"Jim…" Scotty called the bridge, a nervous tremor shaking his voice. The figure remained perfectly still except for the small, shallow breaths that made the chest area rise and fall.
"Yes, Mr. Scott. What is it?" The young captain replied a few seconds later.
"Cap'n…" Scotty started, pausing as he watched the strange figure. "you need to come see this."
The captain replied a few moments later. "All right, Mr. Scott. I'll be right there." His voice was laced with slight exasperation.
After Kirk had signed off, Scotty immediately called for Dr. McCoy, the figure obviously needing medical attention as the blood pool kept growing. He shuffled nervously closer to the prone individual as the seconds stretched out endlessly. Chatter from the rest of the oblivious crew wafted through the transporter room.
"Hey." Scotty called tentatively. "Are ye all right?" He received no answer.
Hurried footsteps drew his attention as the captain rushed in, Dr. McCoy hot on his heels. "What is it, Scotty?" Jim questioned, but he paused as he spotted the figure on the platform. McCoy, however, rushed over to the figure without hesitation.
"I cannae explain it, Cap'n." Scotty replied as the doctor gingerly rolled the person onto their back. "I was adjusting some settings on the transporter and the damned thing brought them here by itself."
They both watched intently as McCoy lifted the veil from the stranger's face to reveal a woman with creamy pale skin and long, mahogany hair. Light freckles were sprinkled across her small, button nose and high cheekbones. But the most striking feature was the blood trails that dripped down her chin from her pouty, slightly parted lips. Her breath came in wheezy gasps as McCoy ran the tricorder down her body, pausing to make several sweeps of her left shoulder. Noticing the weapon in her hand, Jim pried it from her unwilling fingers and examined it closely. It strongly resembled the firearms used during the 20th century on Earth, but was more advanced. It certainly wasn't as advanced as the standard issue phasers, but it was unlike any of the guns he had seen in museums.
"What's the verdict, Bones?" The captain looked to his friend.
The doctor shook his head, brows creased in confusion. "She's definitely human, Jim." He paused, shaking his head again. "But she's got three projectiles I've never seen before lodged in the left side of her back." He became more frantic as new readings came through his tricorder. "She's lost nearly 32% of her blood and has a punctured lung!" The doctor immediately commed the med bay for an emergency evac.
Rifling through his med kit, McCoy found a hypo containing a coagulant that would help to slow the bleeding until he was able to get her back to the med bay. Pressing the end into the soft flesh of her neck, the vial quickly emptied into her veins. But at the sharp bite of the injection, the woman's eyes flew open to reveal icy blue orbs filled with pain, anger, and confusion. Seeing the unknown man hovering over her, she lashed out violently, swinging her fist at the doctor. She was weak with blood loss but the right hook connected with McCoy's jaw, knocking the surprised doctor off balance.
"Hey!" McCoy yelled as Jim helped to catch him before he tumbled off the platform. Both officers rushed forward and pinned the woman's arms to the floor as she continued to thrash wildly.
"I'm not telling you ANYTHING!" She spat venomously through her gritted teeth. There was a wet, unhealthy quality to her voice, most likely due to her punctured lung. She turned her head and coughed brutally, droplets of blood staining the captain's shirt.
"Mr. Scott." McCoy called to the engineer, authority lacing his voice as he struggled to hold the still wriggling woman. "Come hold her down. I'm gonna administer a sedative." At the mention of the word "sedative", she began to thrash even harder, all the while screaming murderously.
Scotty wasted no time in moving to the doctor's side and taking his place in gripping the woman's arm. However, she was just as quick and tore her arm from Scotty's grasp, scratching her nails down the captain's cheek. Scotty regained his grip on her forearm just as McCoy found his tranquillizer. The doctor grunted as a foot caught him in the side but ignored it, leaning forward to inject the drug into her neck. Having no other options, she snapped her teeth tenaciously at the doctor as his hand neared. He avoided her sharp, pearly teeth and emptied the sedative into her neck.
The drug had a near immediate effect, turning the woman's shrieks into moans as her arms went slack and her eyes swam. Her breath came in deep, labored gasps, compounding the problem of her injured lungs. Murmuring from the hall captured the three officers' attention; the commotion had gathered a small crowd outside the room as crewmen peered in at the strange, bloodied woman.
"Move!" A strong, feminine voice demanded as one of the nurses pushed through the crowd.
The nurse hurried into the room, dragging a gurney behind her. She dutifully strode to the woman's side and kneeled down next to the captain. Thoroughly in medical mode, McCoy and the nurse gently lifted the dangerously light woman and placed her on the gurney.
The woman tried desperately to hold on to her bag as it slid down her arm, but its weight was too much for her sedated muscles and fell to the floor with a thud. She murmured pitifully as she was wheeled away, the crowd of onlookers parting once again as she was rushed towards the medbay. Bending down, the captain picked up the bag as well as the firearm that had clattered to the ground in the struggle.
"See what you can make of this, Mr. Scott." He handed the engineer the black, metal gun. "And have Carol help you."
Scotty studied the gun in confusion, turning it back and forth in his hands. "It looks like something out of a museum, Cap'n."
"Just see what you can find out." Kirk replied, looking at the black bag that was stained with the woman's blood. He glanced down at the puddle around his feet, the crimson liquid beginning to coagulate on the pristine floor. Huffing slightly, he walked to the terminal and tapped the screen to call the bridge. "Spock."
The response came within a second. "Yes, Captain?"
"Have a clean-up crew sent to the transporter room." Kirk pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration at the unexpected situation. "I'll be in my quarters."
"Very well, Captain." The Vulcan responded, a hint of confusion in his monotone voice.
Jim nodded to himself as he signed off, his head turned down in thought. "Let me know what you find, Mr. Scott." He said, looking up from under his brow at the engineer. Turning on his heel, the captain walked purposefully towards his quarters, his usual care-free attitude foregone for the strong leader that would do anything to protect his crew.
The woman's sudden appearance was both unexpected and slightly unsettling. She could present a danger to the ship and its crew, however, the state she was in when she was beamed aboard was a mystery all its own. There weren't any detectable life forms or ships for light years, so the woman's origin was also unknown, which was Kirk's biggest worry. Perhaps a cloaked ship could have placed her on board, playing on the fact that she was hurt and that Starfleet would help her, which could make her a potential saboteur. Yet, Bones had said she was human; no doubt about it.
Jim stood in front of his door, having missed the entire journey there as he was lost in his thoughts. Punching in the code on the panel next to the door, it slid open with a gentle whoosh, admitting him into his room. Wasting no time, he changed his soiled uniform, lay the backpack gently on his desk, and pulled the zippered compartments apart. From the main pouch, the captain pulled out a pair of pants, a couple of women's shirts, and other clothes items. He quickly discarded these, instead more focused on the long, thin sheet of metal and plastic that was hiding underneath the clothing. The object pulled apart from the middle, revealing two panels connected by hinges along one of the long sides. On one panel was a screen of sorts, and the other, row after row of buttons with the English alphabet and symbols splayed across them. Jim had also seen something like this before; it was an archaic form of computer used during Earth's 20th and 21st century. But why she had one that looked so new in this day and age only deepened the mystery.
He placed the machine down next to the small pile of clothing. Reaching farther into the bag, he found that the bottom was lined with stacks of paper currency. Most were green and read that they were from the United States of America; others were less numerous but included some that said euros and others that were adorned by an older looking language that might have been Arabic. Jim's suspicions grew as he looked at the paper bills. They were all Earth-based but, again, were quite old. No Federation planet used physical currency anymore, credits were the standard.
Continuing his search, the captain opened the front compartment to find more baffling items. A stack of booklets were secured in a small pouch, as was a small, rectangular box with a shiny, plastic screen. Jim pulled the booklets out of their sleeve and turned them over. The first one was blue and read 'United States of America' in gold print along with the outline of a bird with outstretched wings; the others were of different colors and stated that they were from Canada, Germany, Russia, Bolivia, France, Great Britain, and Jordan. Flipping open the one from America, Jim saw the woman staring back at him, her piercing blue eyes cutting right through him even from a photograph; next to the photo, the name Madeleine April Blackwood was printed in black ink. All of the papers contained the woman's photo, some with minor tweaks to her eyes or skin color, but they were all definitely her. However, the name was different in each one, sounding more indicative of each nation's culture. Yet, the most surprising thing about the first booklet was the date of birth, which read 14 March 1987.
The captain's brows scrunched together as he breathed deeply in slight panic. If this was true, then she was nearly as old as Khan. Memories of the vengeful Augment made Kirk's hands shake in rage and concern for his crew. If the woman was like Khan, they would have to put a stop to her immediately. The whistling of a bell pulled Kirk from his daze as he looked towards the door.
"Come in." He called. The door slid open to reveal Commander Spock, the Vulcan standing ramrod straight with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Captain." He greeted stoically, walking hastily to Jim's side. "The clean-up crew reported blood on the transporter pad."
Kirk nodded at the Vulcan's unspoken question. "It seems we have an unexpected guest, Mr. Spock." Spock stared questioningly at the captain's cryptic response. "What do you make of this?" Jim handed him one of the booklets.
Spock raised his trademark eyebrow as he studied the woman's picture. "This is an outdated form of identification, Captain. Earth has not used this type of documentation for over 150 years." The commander looked up at his commanding officer.
"What do you think of the date of birth?"
The Vulcan studied the document once again, the closest thing to surprise crossing his face. "Jim…" he started, forgoing formality in his disbelief. "if this is indeed true, this woman would be from the same era as Khan."
"Exactly." Kirk responded, pulling the rectangular box from its place in the bag. In stark contrast with the charcoal black of the rest of its body, the word 'Sony' was imbedded in whitish/gray coloring.
"Bones is working on her now." Kirk informed his first officer, voice trailing off as he studied the thin box in his hand. Something about the box's design and function was familiar, though he knew he had never seen anything quite like it before. As he gripped the object, a button on its side depressed, the black screen flaring to life to display the date and time via pre-Federation reckoning. "Mr. Spock, do you think it's possible she was sent here by someone?"
The Vulcan paused for a few seconds, contemplating Jim's question. "It is not impossible for an unknown entity to have shielded themselves from our scanners and placed this woman on board, Captain." Spock explained, logical as ever. "However, it is extremely unlikely considering a civilization with such technological accomplishments would know that the objects she arrived with are now archaic to Earth."
Kirk nodded along with Spock's musings. "She was pretty beat up; she probably won't be awake for several hours at least." The Vulcan stared intently at his captain as he deliberated. "Bones will let us know when she wakes up. We can question her then."
Spock nodded sharply. "Of course, Jim."
Heaving a sigh of frustration, Kirk strode purposefully to the comms system embedded in the wall. "Mr. Hendorff…" He waited for the security chief to respond. When he did, Kirk continued. "Please have two guards sent to the medbay."
Ending the transmission, Kirk waved for Spock to follow, the two walking back to the bridge.
Kirk sat in his chair, awaiting word about the woman. He had studied the rectangular object, he had learned was called a cell phone, extensively; the opening screen required a four number code to unlock the rest of the content. Rather than risk inputting the wrong code, Kirk had called for Scotty to inspect the phone for weaknesses in the coding system that could be hacked. Carol had been left to assess the gun that was in the woman's possession.
"There are explosives wired into the system, Cap'n." Scotty informed, running a tricorder over the body of the phone.
"Is there any way to open it without detonating them?" Jim pressed his fingers to his lips as he stared at the chief engineer.
"Afraid not, Cap'n." Shaking his head to emphasize his point, Scotty handed the phone back to the captain. "Whoever programmed it knew what they were doing. There's no loopholes to exploit; any tampering will trigger the detonation."
Jim stared down at the seemingly innocent phone. Despite everything being obsolete, what kind of a person carried around a gun, 8 identities, a small fortune in varying currencies, and a cell phone full of explosives? Kirk wasn't sure it was a good person. The swish of the turbolift doors opening pulled Kirk from his reverie; an exhausted looking Bones walked onto the bridge.
"She's stable, Jim." the doctor came to stand next to the captain's chair and the chief engineer. "I have her in an induced coma for now so she doesn't rip her bone and skin knits." Stepping forward, Bones lowered his voice so that only Jim and Scotty could hear. "Jim... I pulled these out of her shoulder." He handed Kirk a glass vial with three metal globs.
"What are these?" Kirk asked, watching the metal rolling around the vial.
Bones rubbed his forehead as he answered. "I ran them through the computer; they came back as alloys of lead, copper, and steel." The doctor sighed deeply before continuing. "The design and composition are consistent with bullets."
"Bullets?" Jim parroted back. With the mounting evidence of the woman's origin, this fact didn't surprise him as much as it should. "You mean the kind that we stopped using well over a hundred years ago?"
McCoy nodded. "She also has none of the vaccinations necessary for space travel." The doctor's ever-present frown deepened in suspicion. "She does have vaccinations for diseases that have mostly been eradicated, but none that are required on Earth now."
"Captain?" Spock interrupted, standing next to the captain's chair with his hands clasped behind his back. "I have been considering the circumstances of the woman's appearance. Given our proximity to the black hole, as well as the obsolete technology she carried and her vaccinations, the most consistent explanation is that she is indeed from the same era as Khan."
Rising from his chair, Kirk paced slightly in front of his senior crew, hands balled into fists at his side.
"Captain." Spock started again. "While there is still the possibility she is not from Earth's past, this would not be the first time that a black hole has caused people to become displaced from their own time."
Stopping his pacing, Kirk placed his hands on his hips and stared down at the ground, deliberating on his first officer's words. Huffing in frustration, Kirk nodded and addressed his crew.
"Bones, notify me the second she wakes up. Scotty," He handed the phone back to the engineer. "check again to see if you can do anything with that." Both officers nodded and left the bridge to return to their duties.
Kirk turned to the Vulcan. "Once she wakes up, we'll find out what's going on." At Spock's affirmative nod, Jim continued. "I'll inform Starfleet of the situation."
"Very well, Captain." Spock replied, returning to his station.