AN: Well, here it is! Finally got the inspiration kick to bring you this long awaited prequel to Cast From Paradise. Hope that you all enjoy.
Project Eden
In the beginning…
The alarm blared loudly in her ear, while slowly the lights in her room brightened, the window screens opening slowly to let the natural sunlight inside. The young woman groaned, and she rolled in her bed, reaching over to smack at the box-shaped alarm.
"The time is 0900, Pacific Standard Time." The computerized system chimed in, reminding her that it was, indeed, time for her to be up and working.
Marla McGivers wanted to fire her phaser right at the speaker located so close to her head.
Instead, she sat up slowly, rubbing at her eyes as she let herself acclimate to the light and forced her body away from sleeping to being awake. She sighed, then said, "Thank you, Computer," and she slowly set her feet out of the bed. She looked toward the now open windows, and stared out at the view below. San Francisco, the bridge in the horizon, the historic Alcatraz's rebuilding still on-going after it was decimated eleven months prior, all visible from the living quarters given to members of Starfleet living near the Headquarters. In one month, they would be finished with the newest lines of ships, and deploying them in to space for various missions. Today, though, they would all learn their assignments.
"Right," Marla said, tugging at the hem of her pajama shirt and pulling it up over her head. "Time to find out where I'm going."
It took relatively little time for Marla to shower, comb out her newly trimmed curls (thank God she'd cut them just a week ago, having to wear a bun all the time had gotten annoying), and put on her official Starfleet dress uniform. It was required when one went on-base, and she still held pride in the second star added to her shoulders. She inspected herself once more in the mirror, wiped at her skirt to make sure no wrinkles marred the clean line, and she made her way downstairs from the building to catch the first cab she could flag down to get to the Headquarters. She felt her stomach flipping in nervous turns the whole time, even when sitting in the cab's back seat. After a year of rebuilding from the terrorist attack on the city, the Federation had had to divide itself from protecting their regions, both in space and on Earth, and ensuring that the city was restored. She could scarcely believe, at times, that all the devastation had happened while she had been training on Station One. It was uncanny, and it hurt to hear of the lives lost due to the attacks. Admirals Pike and Marcus had been among the casualties that had stretched throughout the various assaults, and her own mentor, Brigadier Armitage, had been killed in his post at the London Archive.
She sighed, and looked out of the side window as the cab came to a pause at the line toward the massive building. To look at it, you'd never know that several high-ranking officers were killed on the highest floors, or that a starship had nearly crushed the whole thing. Marla said to the cab driver, "Thank you," as she handed him her card, then tucked it away in her purse again before exiting the vehicle.
"Have a good day, Officer," the driver said politely.
"Thank you. I hope I do," she told him. As the cab pulled off, she turned around, and said, "Today I find out my destiny."
"Oh, God, you are so lucky!" Julianne Ashbury said to her as they carried their plates to their table. The Canteen, an overly decorated Mess Hall situated deep within Headquarters, was packed to the gills with officers and personnel who had all come to see their newest assignments for the upcoming months. Marla was, reasonably, still in shock.
"The Enterprise, though," she said, looking at the other woman. Ashbury was tall, with near endless legs, and her brown hair was tied back in a fish-tail braid. Her uniform was more tightly tailored than Marla's own, and she wore it with far more confidence. Then again, Ashbury would also be working on a different ship, as head of Communications and Linguistics. "I can't imagine what it'll be like," Marla went on, "being on that ship."
"Just watch out for Jim Kirk," Julianne warned her. They found empty seats near the back, and set their plates down, ready to eat. "I've heard so many stories about the trail of broken hearts that man's left behind."
"Shouldn't he be in bigger trouble for that?" Marla asked. "It's not right for someone to use their clout to sleep with women."
"He doesn't use his clout," Julianne replied, taking her fork and lightly stabbing at the thick chicken breast on her plate. "He uses charm and humor, and then he ends up running out the next morning as quick as he can."
"You had sex with him, didn't you?" Marla shook her head.
"He bought me a drink and said he liked my legs!" Julianne said in her defense.
"You do have great legs," a male voice interrupted behind them. Both women turned, and Marla's mouth turned up.
"Archie!" Marla was so glad to see him. "How long as it been?" she asked as she jumped to her feet to hug him. Archibald Harlan, the most fabulous man she'd ever known, opened his arms. Warmth radiated from him, as strong in his arms as it was in his deep blue eyes.
After the hug ended, Archie let Marla pull back, and he asked her, "How have you been, Marly? I've missed you so much!" he said, sitting down.
"Who's this?" Julianne asked, pointing to the dark-skinned officer as he joined them. "I'm Julianne Ashbury, by the way. And thank you, I take pride in my legs."
Marla laughed. "This is Archie Harlan."
"That's Captain Archie Harlan, Marly," he corrected her.
Marla gasped and grabbed his wrist. "You made Captain!?"
"Of course," Archie answered as he leaned slightly against the table. "And, sorry gorgeous," he said to Julianne, "You do have great legs, but you're not my type."
"Really?" the brunette pouted. "Who is then? Miss 'Marly' here?"
Marla's cheeks flared pink and she said, "No, actually. I think Jim Kirk's closer to his type."
Archie sighed, and said, "That man is delicious. Too bad he prefers to chase skirts."
"You're better off," Julianne told him. "So, you're Captain Harlan? I'm on your ship," she added. "I'll be your head Coms officer."
"Pleasure to meet you," Archie replied before he looked at Marla. "What about you, Marly babe, where are you going next month?"
"She is stationed on The Enterprise." Marla glared at Julianne for mentioning that.
"Really? You'll be wasted on there," he said in dismay. "Someone with your background and your training? They'll never need you in deep space."
"I can't help it," Marla replied. "It's my assignment. I'll just have to get used to it. And I won't be wasted. They'll give me supplemental training with Coms and Tech in case I'm not needed for historical research purposes."
"Get used to it and let them put you in a red-dress instead of your blues? Your studies make you a proper scientist, Marla, you shouldn't have to be anything less," Archie said to her as he placed his hand on her arm. "Marly, let me make a request."
Marla looked in to his eyes, and her eyebrows furrowed together.
"Hear me out," Archie said, "Let me put in a request for transfer. You can come on to my ship, The Eden. She's got a special mission going on, and I want someone like you on there. You'd be so much happier. We could even have a few drinks, yeah?" he asked, his thick eyebrows rising up slightly on his forehead.
Marla giggled softly, covering her mouth. Working with Archie? On the one hand, if she said no, and went with her current assignment, she'd be off in deep-space. Exploring the final frontier, and watching history being made as they discovered worlds. But she would also likely be stuck on the ship, often, and if she didn't get hit on by the infamous Captain Kirk, she'd be ignored entirely. At least with Archie, she'd be with a friend. And what was their mission, anyway? He'd just said it was special.
"Before I say yes, answer me one thing," she replied.
"Anything, babe."
"What's this mission of yours?"
"Welcome to the U.S.S. Eden," Archie said as he stood before the assembled members of the crew for the starship. A month, and after quite a lot of rushed red-tape and grumblings from officials who were not the least bit pleased at the transfers, and a very emotional re-launching ceremony for The Enterprise before she left the Earth for five years, Marla stood, her fingertips tingling as he gestured and she followed along with their Head Science Officer, to stand in front of the masses.
"Your mission," Archie continued, "is the successful transport of seventy-three cryogenically frozen, genetically augmented humans, to the M-Class planet, Ceti Alpha Five." As he spoke, a screen behind them showed them the coordinates, then the archived recordings for the planet. "Now, some of you would not think this terribly important, nor a reason to be kept in the dark when you were assigned. However, among these augmented humans is one man in particular." He turned, and Archie brought up more footage. A montage of old recordings from before World War Three, as well as footage from more recent times. Including the attack on Headquarters and photographs from the London Archive bombing. "This man lived under the alias of John Harrison, a Starfleet commander and operative for a secret division that saw the creation of advanced weaponry. His real name is Khan Noonien Singh." Archie paused and he glanced over to Marla.
Marla stepped up, and she took over. "During the Eugenics Wars of the 1990's, he was a ruthless, deadly general, who used his army of genetically 'superior' soldiers to conquer over one third of the world. His people, dubbed Augments, were equally engineered to be as powerful and as intelligent as their leader, though the skills and abilities of each person varied, as did the origin race of the augmented embryos and sperm used in the project, named Project Chrysalis, that created them. Now, this doesn't appear in most history books because of the concentrated efforts of multiple governments and because of documents lost after the third World War. However," behind her, images of the tall man, pale in skin and with a hawkish profile, his hair alternatively either long, and tied back, or cropped short in military regulation-style, flicked along. "What has been gathered shows that he is a man of high intelligence, surpassing strength, and brutal savagery. When he vanished from public record, nearly ninety other Augments had vanished as well."
"Thank you Lieutenant," Archie said as he stepped forward again. "These Augments obviously were found, along with Khan, two years ago, adrift in space, and brought back to Earth. Khan was woken up, and after he betrayed Starfleet and became a terroristic threat to the Earth, he was apprehended, and placed back in to cryogenic suspension. The reason we are transporting him and his people, and they aren't being entirely destroyed, is because of the request of several military officials who want to extend mercy to them, including the officers of the Star Ship Enterprise, and several Federation heads. However, since it would be dangerous to keep these potentially dangerous people on Earth, we have been asked to transport them to a planet, capable of sustaining life, where they can live and thrive, as they see fit.
"That being said," Archie went on, "It is within your best interests to obey the following guidelines. First, those in charge of the Cargo Bay, where these tubes will be stored, are to monitor them at all times. If one appears to be malfunctioning or failing, call for Medical and Technical Support, immediately, so that the Augment inside of the tube does not either die, or wake up prematurely. Second, do not, I repeat- do not- open these tubes prior to landing on Ceti Alpha Five, for any reason. If you do, whoever is locked inside is to be considered dangerous, and must either be stunned immediately, or killed, to avoid casualties to the crew. Do not engage them, do not try to reason with them, and do not attempt combat aside from a blast from your phaser. Third, if you have any questions on the history of the Augments, refer either to me, Commander Jefferies," he said, gesturing to the short blond-haired Science Officer standing beside Marla, "Or Lieutenant McGivers. Now, let's get on board and get these people off our planet."
With that for a dismissal, it didn't take long for the new crew of the Eden to board each shuttle. Marla was eager to begin this endeavor. Seeing the new start for a race of humans long thought to have been either wiped out or, in the more naïve minds, entirely made up. She knew with certainty, as she climbed in to the shuttle she would share with Archie on the ride up to the docks, that she had made the right choice, for once.
"Ready?" Archie asked her as he plopped himself down in his chair and buckled himself in.
"Yes," Marla answered. She sat back, and after she fastened herself in, she took in a deep breath. "I'm ready, Captain Harlan."