Identities Uncovered.
Being in such close proximity to a superhuman provoked a physical reaction Svetlanka was beyond controlling. Tension expanded in every single one of her flexible muscles, her teeth grated against one another and her fists balled up at the side of her body. She suddenly dropped her gaze from the hateful Khan and did some rapid thinking.
It seems I've made a terrible mistake. She thought, suddenly understanding the significance of Khan being on-board the Enterprise and how this greatly affected her mission. Svetlanka then sank onto her knees, placed her hands on the back of her head and looked the Captain directly in his eyes.
'I surrender completely.' She stated formally, enjoying the astounded look pulling at Jim Kirk's features. He regarded her suspiciously as he pulled out his phone and quickly instructed for Spock, Scottie and someone named "Bones" to hurry to their exact location.
'Oh Captain; I wouldn't place her under arrest, can't you see her ulterior motive?' Khan purred; his eyes fixed on the woman with wild brown hair.
'Khan. Shut up.' Kirk said through gritted teeth, procuring a stun-gun from his belt and aiming it directly at Svetlanka's heart. 'Who are you?' He demanded.
'Svetlanka Kranst.' She said easily. At least she hadn't lied about her name. 'You may know me better by my pseudonym: The Magpie.' Kirk's scintillatingly blue eyes widened in recognition. He was suddenly cursing his crew for taking so long to join him.
'Such a tacky name.' Khan sneered from behind his glass prison.
'Yes because superhumans always ooze such class.' Svetlanka retorted, her eyes flashing red once more, a change which didn't escape the Captain's notice.
'Your eyes…' He whispered, a deep frown pulling at his brows.
'Oh did they turn red for a moment? Sorry about that, it's not you. It's the scum of the universe on my right here.' Svetlanka nodded towards Khan's tall, straight form.
'Who are you?' Kirk's voice commanded slightly more authority this time; he was overcoming his shock at this bizarre shift in events.
'Svetlanka of the noble hose of Kranst.' At "noble" Khan audibly snorted. 'As I'm sure you've realised Captain, I am not from your race. Nor of Khan's I might add.' Before she could continue, the door to the room opened and in hurried Spock, Scottie and who Svetlanka could through a process of elimination conclude must be Bones.
'Captain, we received your message, I believe you've found the Pulmonary Vector –' Spock's voice was cut off by the scene at hand. 'Has Ms Kranst surrendered?'
'That's Lady Kranst to you, Vulcan.' Svetlanka sneered.
'Lady? I'm afraid such titles are only given to those belonging to royal lineages and seeing as you are on-board the USS Enterprise in the position of surrender, you should know that such titles will not allow you to receive any special treatment while you are held prisoner on this ship.' Spock reeled off. 'Furthermore –'
'Scottie, I need another top security cell opened.' Kirk interrupted.
'Another sir?'
'Yes, I would like it seen to that Lady Kranst here, doesn't escape. Again.' Scottie shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. 'Scottie? What are you waiting for?'
'Well, you see, the things is sir, we've a wee bittae a problem concernin' runnin' two different high security cells simultaneously.'
'What do you mean Scottie?' Kirk asked, his voice lowering dangerously.
'Well, to put it bluntly sir, we cannae do it.'
'What do you mean can't?'
'There's sortae a issue with the power at the moment sir, the lass will have tae stay put for the noo.'
'Well Scottie, it is of great importance that you fix this. Immediately.'
'Aye Aye Captain, Keenser an I… we'll figure it oot. Fer sure!' Scottie quickly hurried out of the cell block to fix whatever power issue had arisen inside the Enterprise. 'I'll let ye no when I fix the wee bugger!' He called over his shoulder.
'So what exactly do we do now?' Kirk hissed to Spock as the doors slid shut on Scottie's hurrying form. 'We have "The Magpie" sitting at our feet right now and the only suitable security cell we have for such a prisoner is being occupied by our favourite frozen superhuman!'
'I believe the solution is obvious, Captain.' Spock stated.
'Really Spock? What exactly would this "obvious solution" be?'
'Lady Kranst and Khan will have to share the cell.'
'He'll kill her.' Kirk murmured.
'No I think you're mistaken Captain, I'll kill him, he'll only try to kill me.' Svetlanka corrected.
'You think your skills surpass my own?' Khan hissed.
'I don't think, I know they do.'
'SHUT UP! You are both my prisoners! Neither of you have a say in your accommodation arrangements!' Kirk snarled. 'Lady Kranst or whatever the hell your name is, you will enter this cell or suffer the ultimate punishment for resisting arrest.'
'Alright.' Svetlanka said quietly, rising and holding her wrists forward, waiting to be cuffed.
'You think I would give you such a valuable piece of material to work with?' Kirk sneered. 'Spock, Bones. I want all stun guns on the cell door. Svetlanka Kranst, you will walk in when the door opens, turn around and then answer our questions. Do I make myself clear?'
'Perfectly Captain.' Svetlanka replied.
'Try my patience again and you'll regret the day you were born.'
'I doubt you'd remember a date some five hundred years past, Captain.' Svetlanka said easily, enjoying the way the Captain's eyes slightly bulged at this casual titbit of information.
'Khan, you know better than to try and pull some daring escape.' Kirk said, glancing at the cold superhuman.
'Oh Captain, it would do you little harm to drop the patronizing tone once in a while. I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you that if you open that door and let that thing in with me, I will not be responsible for my actions.' Khan said lazily.
'You're not to harm Lady Kranst. That's an order.' Kirk said forcefully.
'It would only be a matter of self-defence Captain; she would be the one instigating such a confrontation. You however, would be prodding both of us into a fight by placing us within such close proximity.'
'You're scared of a girl?' Kirk managed to crack a smile in the pressurised situation.
'No, I am not afraid of the weak and pathetic females of the human race, a class which Svetlanka I might add does not fall into. By all means Captain, if you would like to see a further demonstration of my savagery, open that door and let her in. I assure you of a gruesome and bloody fight, especially when I only have my bare hands for weapons.' Kirk glanced at Svetlanka and was astonished to find no trace of fear marring her angular features, if anything she looked thoroughly amused by Khan's chilling little monologue. She caught him analysing her and an easy smiled pulled at her lips.
'I can take care of myself Captain, this won't be the first time I've fought a superhuman. Khan here has grown arrogant in his long sleep; he has forgotten why his people were frozen in the first place.'
'What are you talking about?' Kirk asked, not understanding.
'Let me in and as you earlier instructed, I will answer all of your questions, including your most important one.'
'Which is?'
'Oh I don't know, perhaps why I tried to board your ship and steal the Pulmonary Vector? Which I might add is still on my person.' She lowered her right hand and ignored Kirk's tightened grip on his stun gun as she withdrew the fire extinguisher from the depths of her uniform. After handing the Pulmonary Vector to the astonished Captain, she replaced her hand on her head. Kirk pocketed the small contraption and re-adjusted his grip on his gun.
'On three. The door will open, Khan will remain in his chamber and you will join him. Understand?' Svetlanka just nodded.
'Alright then.' Spock and Bones took out their weapons and pointed them at the glass door. They were painfully aware of how many stun shots it took to bring Khan down and they had no idea how many it would take to stun Svetlanka.
'One.'
'Two.'
'Three!'
Spock activated the door and Svetlanka sauntered into the cell with Khan not deigning to make an escape. The door closed and the three crew members of the Enterprise lowered their stun guns in relief.
'Now, I have some questions… What does your client want with the Pulmonary Vector?' Kirk demanded, trying to retain a hold of sorts on this spiralling encounter.
'He doesn't want it. I was wrong.' Svetlanka spat.
'Wrong?'
'He isn't exactly a straightforward man, he prefers to give what he desires in riddles and I misinterpreted his instructions.'
'Who's your client?'
'Irrelevant.'
'Not to me.'
'You don't want to go chasing after a great white when you're only a clown fish, Captain.' Svetlanka said bluntly. Throughout her clipped answers, her gaze had been lividly fixed on Khan's face, her eyes still retaining a scarlet shimmer. 'He doesn't want the Pulmonary Vector, hence why I surrendered it and myself. I was wrong.'
'I'm shocked.' Khan managed to sneer.
'What species are you?' Kirk quickly interjected, wanting to distract Svetlanka from attacking Khan, he had no way of going in there to straighten the two ridiculously strong characters out without risk of one of them escaping. He would have to hope they would cooperate and resist the urge to rip one another's throats out.
'I belong to the prestigious house of Kranst which is a member of the species known to humans as Waskrens. I doubt if you've heard of us despite being a sister race to humans.' Svetlanka murmured.
'I'm afraid I haven't heard of you.' Kirk said uncomfortably.
'I do not take offence Captain, there was a time when Humans and Waskrens would walk and fight together, a time which ended over three hundred years ago with the cataclysmic beginning of the Eugenics war.' Her eyes narrowed even more on Khan. 'We were – and still remain– allies.'
'So what planet do the Waskrens hail from?' Kirk's curiosity was beginning to get the better of him and Svetlanka could easily read his hunger regarding a forgotten species. He was truly suited to the role as Captain of a Starfleet ship; he was an explorer through and through.
'A planet some miles from Earth called Dorzu. My home.' She whispered. 'It is laid to waste now, completely desolate after what happened.' Her voice was as light as memory.
'What happened?' Kirk asked quietly.
'Inhabitation.'
'Inhabitation?'
'It's what happens when a planet is abandoned by its primary species. It either flourishes or dies. The latter is to be applied in this case.' She finally tore her eyes away from Khan and looked at the Captain, her eyes glassy as she remembered memories some three hundred years old but felt as horrendously vivid as yesterday. 'The Eugenics war was something which had never been seen in the galaxy. Genetically engineered Superhumans were roaming Earth, causing mayhem in their quest for world domination. Our services as allies were called upon to aid the human effort to capture and destroy these superhumans which were causing such chaos and death. So we came.' She swallowed painfully. 'We are not a warring people Captain and it is not in our nature to kill or to even indulge in violent behaviour. But our very core as a species was changed in that war when we were confronted with the unspeakable savagery of the superhumans. In order to correctly fight them, we had to… adopt some of their tactics. Some of the leaders back then when it was realised that we could fight and beat these things, wanted to completely exterminate this race. It was a preventative measure, they argued, to make sure this event could never happen again. Then there were those who believed that this was complete savagery beyond justification and that no such act could take place. So the option of cryogenically freezing the Superhumans was presented and passed. One which I agreed with back then but I now find myself filled with regret for supporting.' Her eyes flicked to Khan and then back to the Captain. 'Exhausted but victorious, we set a course to return home to Dorzu. Six hundred of our finest Waskrens were aboard that ship and when we were nearing home, disaster struck. It seemed the Superhumans had invoked a war-treaty with the people of Kronos, the Klingons – may them and their children forever be cursed – to finish what they had started in the event that they should fail. The Klingons attacked us first, planning to obliterate our exhausted forces before turning their attentions to Earth. It's fair to say that they underestimated us.' Svetlanka managed a grim smile which quickly disappeared. 'Though they suffered heavy casualties, they managed in their last manoeuvre to release a torpedo in our direction. Initially we thought it was heading for our ship but…' Svetlanka's voice caught in her throat. 'It headed to our home planet instead.' She rocked backwards and forwards slowly on her heels. 'One, tiny torpedo. We didn't think it would do much damage but we have never been more wrong.' Her voice was harrowing as she continued. 'To this day, I do not know exactly what balance of chemicals existed in that weapon but as soon as it connected with Dorzu, everything just died.' A lump in her throat stopped her from continuing as the painful memories washed over her heightened senses with an acidic touch. Tears burned down her cheeks as she struggled to finish her story. 'The combination of chemicals… it wasn't contained only to the planet. It soon spread outwards and was encompassing our ship. All of the shuttle ships had been damaged in the battle save for one. My mother… she locked me in and forcefully ejected me into space. By the time I obtained control of the ship and returned… there was no-one alive.' Svetlanka's hands were trembling so violently they blurred. 'I eventually managed to find my place in this century as the person you know as "The Magpie." Or as you humans call me –'
'The Thief of all Thieves.' Captain Kirk murmured; his mouth long dry due to the tragic tale conveyed by the lone Waskren. When he'd asked which species she'd belonged to, he hadn't expected… that. Jim watched as Svetlanka strode across the small cell so she was deliberately encroaching on Khan's personal space. The mossy green of Svetlanka's irises had adopted a permanent fiery scarlet as she glared at him. The superhuman returned the hatred-infused glare with interest, obviously enjoying his four inch height advantage which caused Svetlanka's head to jerk up awkwardly.
'Stand down, Kranst.' Khan demanded.
'And if I don't feel like it?'
'You're going to start something you won't be able to win.'
'You think I'd lose in a fist fight to you? You're adorable.' Svetlanka drawled.
'And to think that the once fine and honourable house of Kranst has been reduced to its sole, mediocre heir, manifesting itself in the form of you.' Khan purred. Kirk was about to cut through the trash-talking but was knocked speechless by what happened next. He didn't exactly see what happened, but he concluded that Svetlanka must have hit him because one second they were glaring at one another; the next Khan had been thrown against the back wall of the cell, his nose dripping softly with blood. Khan's carefully combed hair was thrown into disarray; his fringe flopping into his eyes was roaring evidence of how powerful the blow had been. The superhuman staggered to his feet and glared viciously at the Captain. 'I told you she would start a fight!' He roared.
'I think you were the one asking to be punched, Khan.' Kirk replied humorously, his eyes flicking back to Svetlanka's trembling form. Only a severe rage or fear would cause those shakes and Kirk knew he didn't need his extra I.Q points to figure out which one was possessing Svetlanka Kranst. He glanced at the members of his crew, Bones was looking rather taken with the story Svetlanka had told and a little shocked by the power she'd demonstrated in that punch. Captain Kirk's eyes rested on Spock who looked mildly troubled by the events which had taken place. He seemed as unsure as the Captain with which action they should take next.
'Bones, give Khan some bandages.' Kirk eventually ordered.
'Captain, I'm a doctor dammit, not some vending machine supporting medical supplies!' Bones retorted.
'Just get the frozen man some bandages!' Kirk snapped; his blue eyes glaring at Bones with an intensity which suggested that if he didn't do as commanded, he'd be demoted to a position of nurse complete with the female uniform.
'Alright, I'll get superman some bandages…' Bones grumbled, hurrying out of the only sliding door of the special chamber.
'Now, Lady Kranst… would you mind telling me what a typical Waskren is capable of?' Kirk asked. Svetlanka had slid to the floor of the cell, her legs crossed beneath her as she stared blankly at her right hand which was sprinkled with Khan's blood. She had taken great satisfaction from making the superhuman bleed. Her mother would have been proud of the damage she'd inflicted from one single hit. An old memory seemed to have her within its strong grasp and she was not completely present to hear, never mind answer, the Captain's question.
'I believe I have suitable knowledge to answer that question, Captain.' Khan said, his deep voice resonating menacingly around the intimate cell room. 'But first, you must answer a question of mine.'
The response to the first chapter has been overwhelming and I hope you enjoyed chapter two! Let me know if you like the idea of Waskrens, they are of my own creation!
