Admiral Marcus

by Starsinger

What if Admiral Marcus hadn't died at Khan's hands, and, instead, been transported to the Enterprise with Carol, Scotty and Kirk to suffer her fate. Yet everything else had transpired, except Pike somehow survived in this one too. I'm not too evil. Marcus is getting a really good whumping here. I just have these evil plot bunnies. Don't own them.

"LET US OUT!" Cupcake heard the Scottish accent as he turned around. Kirk, Scotty, and Dr. Marcus stood, relatively speaking, in one cell. Admiral Marcus stood in another, hatred and fear radiating off him in waves. Cupcake let his captain out first and then moved to the Admiral's cage.

"NO!" Kirk commanded. "This man has a LOT to answer for if we survive this. He stays put until I come back for him, or someone I authorize to release him does. Like, say, Admiral Archer."

Marcus watched as Kirk and Scotty bolted for the door, "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME, KIRK! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!" Marcus watched as Heindorff helped his daughter a chair and called for medical.

"SHUT UP, DAD!" Carol called furiously, "You did this to yourself. Take what's coming to you like the man you're supposed to be." Taken aback by his own daughter, Marcus sat down and watched as McCoy, who ignored him, helped Carol hobble out of the room. Minutes passed like days as suddenly the ship lurched sideways and he was thrown against the glass that contained him. Heindorff was, fortunately, standing against the wall when the lurch occurred and looked up to see the man break his left arm with a thud.

They were falling. Marcus knew this. The ship was out of control, and he had had a hand in it. Then, the miracle occurred, the ship righted itself and suddenly, Marcus was on the floor, writhing in pain. The next unexpected fall had broken both of his legs. He heard a sigh behind him, "I suppose I should call Sickbay."

Minutes later, medical showed up as medics picked him up and dumped him on the stretcher, "Where's Dr. McCoy! He should be here!" he demanded.

"He has other concerns, Admiral," the medic replied. They strapped him down and pushed him unceremoniously down the corridor. As they entered Sickbay, it was busy, not unexpectedly, but most of the activity centered around a cryotube and two gurneys. He watched as they pulled one man out, and were undressing another. With a shock, he realized the other man was Kirk.

"What happened to him?" he asked the young African doctor attending him.

"Kirk went into the warp core chamber to restart the engines. The effort killed him," M'Benga replied. Marcus watched as Kirk did and said nothing to those around him. His head lolled back as they sat him up to pull off his shirt. The lack of energy and self-movement was unnatural.

Marcus' attention was brought back to McCoy as he heard the end of a conversation, "I NEED Khan alive. I think he can save Kirk."

M'Benga gave him a hypo that had him out cold. When he awoke, he was in a hospital, handcuffed to a hospital bed, his roommate, Christopher Pike. "Am I dead?"

"No, Marcus, you're alive," Pike was eating what looked like chocolate pudding. "Don't ask me how I am, I don't know how they pulled that one off."

Marcus looked down to see his left arm and both legs in casts, "How long have I been here?"

"Oh, about three hours. The MPs came into officially arrest you. You were out so they just handcuffed you to your bed, I'm sure you've noticed that already." Silence descended as Pike finished his pudding, "You know, Marcus, I tried to warn you about Kirk. You never listened." Marcus stared at the other man, "Jim is everything, militarily, that you'll never be, and you couldn't stand for that."

"Kirk's dead," Marcus muttered.

"They're working on that," another voice joined in. He looked up to see Archer and Barnett standing in the doorway. "That ship, that you built, was crashed into San Francisco, destroying much of the city and part of Starfleet Command." Archer sighed, "I'm not going to ask you what you were thinking, you have a trial coming up to answer for those crimes. Also, the Klingons are trying to have you extradited. Seems, they don't blame Kirk for what happened. After it was explained to them, they realized that you set Kirk up. They don't want a war, right now, or Kirk, they want you."

Marcus flinched, "Heard Rura Penthe* is nice this time of year. Not as cold as it normally is. I'm sure that they'll be more than happy to keep you warm there." They turned and left as Pike turned on the television, deliberately setting it on a channel showing the carnage in San Francisco, making Marcus face what he had done.

*Ah, Rura Penthe, nasty little prison planet run by the Klingons. Source is Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country, Kirk and McCoy ended up there.