In a flash Michael crossed the room to stand by her brother. On auto-pilot she reached out to the control panel; entering her command override codes when prompted. She pulled up Captain Pike's position on the ship and frowned deeply when the data pinged on screen.
"What is it?" Spock queried over her shoulder.
Michael scrolled through the log at speed. "He's been in an engineering lab for a little over an hour, stationary mostly."
Burnham's frown deepened and she clocked Spock take a step forward, the slight tensing up in his shoulders, the way his breathing stilled. To the majority of people Spock had no reactions but that was completely inaccurate; the truth was most people just didn't know where to look. Spock's reactions were minute by nature but for someone who grew up on Vulcan it was almost like her brother was holding up a flag waving: I'm worried!
"I'm going to bring up the security feed." She suddenly announced, letting Spock's anxiety slide unchecked. She started to bring up the feed and almost swore when she was met with endless error messages.
"Something's blocking the feed to the lab." Michael muttered grimly; brining up command consoles as she worked in an attempt to bypass the lock out.
"That is troubling." Spock added.
Wow, that was the understatement of the year.
Any doubts that they had about overreacting vanished when Michael finally managed to break through the feed block, and the security camera footage popped up on screen. Michael gasped when the situation unfolded: Captain Pike and Ensign Tilly tied back to back, with a crewman holding a phaser in their general direction.
Out of all the scenarios Michael had been expecting she hadn't even contemplated a hostage situation. No wonder why the Captain had sounded strained over the call; anyone would with a gun to their head. Michael shared a concerned look with her brother and saw his eyes widen imperceptibly as he took in the situation.
Michael took a deep breath and recomposed herself, putting aside for a second that two of the most important people in her life were stuck in a life or death situation. She would be no use to either of them like this. When Michael had shaken her demons away she efficiently opened up a private secure channel to Security Chief Nhan. "Commander Nhan this is Burnham, we've got a hostage situation in engineering lab 2 Alpha. Assemble a security team and meet on deck 2."
"Understood, we'll be assembled in 5." Nhan replied immediately. "Any information on the hostages?
Michael closed her eyes not quite believing the names about to tumble out of her mouth. "The hostages are Ensign Tilly and Captain Pike."
Jenkins had soon gone from working to muttering in no time, talking to himself again, well more accurately Evan and the entity were conversing. Pike now understood that the softer tone belonged to the real Evan Jenkins, and the other familiar more dangerous voice belonged to the murderous entity.
Said entity that had joined with Jenkins was an enigma. How something like that even happened was completely beyond Pike. The ship had stringent measures and regulations in place to detect countless pathogens, and all crew members were scanned when entering and leaving the ship. This kind of situation shouldn't be remotely possible and at the very least shouldn't have gone unnoticed for so long. It took a colleague noticing Evan's change in behaviour for this entity's true nature to come to light, along with it's worrying motivations to destroy Starfleet.
"Why wont you let me help you, what happened to your people was a tragedy."
"Shut-up."
"Starfleet aren't the evil thing you make them out to be."
"Starfleet destroy everything in their path, so I'm going to destroy them."
"I cant let you do that."
"I thought we'd already had this demonstration. You can't stop me."
Pike's head span wildly as he witnessed the verbal tennis match. Evan's facial expression spasmed with each sentence, switching from a pained expression to a snarling angered one. It was agonising to watch and was almost like seeing someone being slowly torn apart, being slowly split in two. Chris wondered absently how much more of this madness Evan's mind could take; there were 2 beings occupying a body that was only built for one.
"He's still in there." Tilly whispered sadly, trembling as she watched her friend getting torn to bits.
The Captain suddenly had a brainwave, a desperate attempt to save lives. "Do you think you could get through to him?" He asked gently.
She sniffed then the panic kicked in. "What if he makes good on his threat?"
Pike had thought of that too and whilst it wasn't a nice end they didn't have many options here. "I'm not going to order you to do this, it could be dangerous yes." He felt her stiffen behind him. "I do think it's the best chance to save Evan though, break through to him and get him help."
He heard Tilly sigh tiredly and let out a shaky breath. "I'm willing to take the risk Sir I just don't think it'll work."
Pike wasn't surprised by her willingness to sacrifice her own life. She was a Starfleet officer through and through, willing to put her life on the line for her crew and her friends. Unsurprisingly though she had doubts, it was Pikes job as her Captain to see past her weaknesses and encourage her strengths, giving her the belief that she could accomplish anything she put her mind too.
"If anyone can get through to him it's you." Honestly only a friend could right now. Orders weren't getting through the entity's control so they required a deeper connection.
Tilly nodded a few times, embracing his words and let her Captain's belief in her run untethered. "I'll try Sir."
Pike acknowledged her choice then crossed his fingers and prayed that Jenkins wouldn't just kill them out of turn. This was risky trying to draw Evan out but he truly believed it was their only option; the entity was never going to back down or be negotiated with.
"Evan?" Tilly called out tentatively.
Jenkins froze on the spot, his entire frame tensing harshly. Pike watched his reactions carefully and felt hopeful when Evan stayed quiet and saw his muscles relax. Sadly less than a second later Jenkins shook himself out of it and turned around angrily, pointing a finger at Tilly. "Stop it." He warned.
Pike wanted to jump in and take the heat for himself but sadly Evan was only going to respond to Tilly. With reckless abandon Tilly tried to get through to her friend again. "Evan I know you're still in there can you hear me?"
They both stiffened when Jenkins grabbed the phaser and stalked forwards angrily, the Captain was already reprimanding himself for suggesting such a suicidal plan. That was until Jenkins came to a stop and Evan clutched his head like he was in terrible agony. "Stop talking." He managed to grind out.
Tilly pushed on her advantage. "Evan, it's Tilly your friend. I need you to remember who you are."
Jenkins clutched his head harder and he almost stumbled to his knees. "Stop!" He screamed.
"Your name is Evan Jenkins, you grew up on a farm in Texas with your two little brothers and mum and dad, you joined Starfleet because you wanted to see the stars, you're a good man Evan and you can fight this." Tilly implored watching Evan fight with the entity in his mind.
Pike held his breath and waited on tenterhooks for Evan or the entity to win their battle of wills, whatever Tilly was sparking in Evan's mind it looked to be working, the kid was fighting back. Instantly something changed in Evan's expression and he opened his eyes, taking his hands away from them.
Chris barely recognised the man's face; it was like looking at a totally different person. Where his face had looked hardened and angry before, it was now soft and kind: human. All of a sudden Evan scrunched up his features in agony and tears rolled freely down his cheeks. His body remained stiff and unresponsive, and Pike didn't miss that the phaser was now pointing vaguely in their direction.
"Evan?" Tilly asked hopefully.
Evan's tearful gaze flicked to her. "It's me Tilly." Gone was the aggression and yelling of earlier, this Evan sounded kind and gentle and so very, very sad. "I'm so sorry." He guiltily apologised, glancing from his captives to the dead body discarded in the corner.
"It's not your fault Evan, I know you would never do anything to hurt anyone." Tilly implored.
"I did hurt someone though, these hands did." He looked down at his frozen hands and was disgusted to see the phaser pointing at Pike and Tilly.
He yelled out and scrunched up his face. "I can't stop him, he's too strong."
Pike could see Evan had been fighting to get control of his limbs and has thus far been failing, he needed to fight harder. "You can fight this Lieutenant." Pike encouraged.
"I don't think I can." Evan cried out and clutched his head again like it was splitting open.
Chris saw they were running out of time. "Cut us free and we can get you help." He instructed quickly before Evan lost the battle raging in his head.
Sadly Evan didn't hear him, not the real Evan anyway. Jenkins screamed loudly and dropped to the floor clutching his head; wildly scrabbling at his mind. Pike and Tilly starting struggling against their restraints with anew strength wanting desperately to help the stricken officer. Jenkins suddenly stilled and then the screaming stopped. Pike's heart dropped when he watched Jenkins get to his feet with a cold expression on his face.
The man's flaming angry eyes sought Pike; his body was shaking with murderous rage. Evan wasn't home anymore. "You." Jenkins spat and without warning slammed the phaser into Pike's head.
The Captain cried out surprised by the sudden and unexpected assault, falling to the side uselessly. He slumped against the restraints and felt them constrict nastily around his chest; even though they were causing him pain the wires were the only thing keeping his feet beneath him. Chris heard Tilly grunt in pain and realised his falling over must have constricted the wires around her chest too; he quickly fought to right himself only for the phaser to smash into the side of his head again.
Chris' vision flared white and he slumped over for a second time; he felt his head split open and blood began to trickle down his face. Pike heard a grunt slip past his lips and he felt Tilly struggle against the restraints holding them both in place. If the wire hadn't been so tight he would have crashed to the ground and most likely passed out, instead he sagged uselessly against them wanting nothing more than to keel over and stop the world from spinning.
Pike breathed harshly and groaned, doubling up as much as possible when Jenkins' fist crashed powerfully into his ribs not once but twice.
"Stop it please!" Tilly screamed desperately, her hands reaching out behind her fiercely trying to grasp onto Pike's hands.
Chris coughed with his head bowed, head fuzzy and lungs screaming for oxygen. Eventually his system kicked in and he managed to draw in sharp breaths. Pike heard footsteps walk away from him and he managed to drag his head up and open his eyes, worried when he couldn't see Jenkins. He stared over his shoulder and saw Jenkins leaning into Tilly's face holding her jaw in a crushing grip.
"You tried to trick me." Jenkins sneered holding the phaser up and pointing it against her head.
Pike's heart almost stopped. "Wait." He rasped urgently, still trying to get his breath back. "I ordered her to get through to Evan, kill me not her." Pike spluttered desperately, regretting getting Tilly involved in this.
He hadn't thought through the consequences properly and look what had happened. She had agreed willingly but that didn't make it any easier to watch someone in his command threatened. Jenkins kept the phaser in place but locked eyes with Pike. Chris watched the thoughts flicker through the other man's mind and could see he was struggling not to pull the trigger. Eventually the man snarled, released Tilly's jaw and strode back over to Pike, resting the phaser against the Captain's head.
"You're more trouble than you're worth." Jenkins snarled and Chris said a silent prayer.
He was sure the entity was going to pull the trigger, hell Jenkins was sure he was going to pull the trigger until they were all interrupted by a sharp knocking at the door. Pike almost jumped out of his skin and he noticed that the entity almost pulled the trigger completely in response to the interruption.
Jenkins looked confused for a moment then he flew into full on panic mode when the knocking sounded again followed by a shout. "We know you're in there Lieutenant." Jenkins glanced from the still closed doors to Pike and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "And we know what you were planning."
After the latest announcement Jenkins turned to the computer screens and his expression fell when he saw the power had been cut to his systems; whatever he had been working on with the ventilation systems had come to an end. Pike felt sweet relief flood his body even though he still had a phaser pressed against his head.
Even if the worst did happen and he and Tilly died here, the thing that had taken control of Jenkins wouldn't get far and couldn't enact his plan to murder the crew. Pike glanced over his shoulder to Tilly and saw she was still shaken up but as relieved as he was that someone knew about their predicament, and had stopped the entity from doing something irreversible.
"Why wouldn't they just come in?" Jenkins muttered suspiciously scrutinising Pike and Tilly.
Chris knew why immediately, and Jenkins figured it out a moment later glancing up to the security cameras then to the phaser pointing at the Captain's head. "They saw I was about to kill you." Jenkins cackled.
Pike glared at the man readily, he just didn't get the joke. Jenkins sobered when he saw how annoyed his captive was, he still grinned like an idiot though. "Sorry I just think its quite ironic. My almost killing you has saved my life."
Pike wanted to roll his eyes, but just about resisted the urge to. Jenkins had regrettably sussed out that the security team wouldn't breach if they couldn't ensure Jenkins wouldn't pull the trigger. Wasting no further time Jenkins shot out the cameras in the room and shouted to the door. "If anyone breaches this room I'll kill both of them."
"No one's coming in." The voice from the door assured them. Pike thought it could have been Commander Nhan but the door was distorting and muffling the owner too much to be sure.
Jenkins watched the doorway suspiciously for some time, only lowering the phaser when he heard footsteps walking away. He stormed back over to the terminals and angrily smashed it to pieces when it refused to respond to his commands, clearly there was no way he could use it to carry out any of his plans.
Chris took shuddering breaths until his chest stopped spasming and constricting so badly; he was sure he would feel the aftermath of that vicious beating for days to come.
"This is over, you see that right?" Pike decided to pile on the pressure, knowing that with the security team pressing outside and him from within then the entity would crack.
Jenkins sneered at him. "Nothing's over yet."
Pike threw him a disbelieving glare. "There's no way out of this for you, and you can't carry out your plan. You should cut your losses and leave Lieutenant Jenkins' body."
Jenkins slammed his fist against the work surface. "Its not that easy!" He yelled, storming over to his captives. "It takes days to merge and un-merge with someone."
Pike watched their captor pace erratically fingering the trigger on the phaser. Suddenly he stopped and rounded on them, a huge smile plastered over his face. "You're finally going to be off use."
Jenkins reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife, moving to slice through the wires holding Pike and Tilly together. Pike was surprised by the sudden change in situation although relieved he was able to breathe freely again. He hadn't realised how tight the restraints had become but now they were cut free he could feel most of his muscles had gone dead under them.
Chris stumbled away from the support beam and almost lost his footing, forgetting how to support himself away from the bindings. He didn't get very far before Jenkins grabbed his and Tilly's arms and lined them up side by side. Pike swayed with the sudden movement and shut his eyes as his head span wildly and the unpleasant nausea returned.
Jenkins held Pike's and Tilly's upper arms together, tying a length of wire around them tightly. Pike and Tilly jostled under the rough treatment; they were both sick and tired of being tied up. When Evan was finished he pushed them both forward causing the pair to stumble. Pike glanced sideways at Tilly and realised Jenkins had effectively turned his captives into a human shield.
"You're going to walk me off this ship." He instructed as he continued to push them towards the door.
Pike shook his head in disbelief. "They won't let you leave this room let alone the ship."
"I've got hostages." Jenkins tapped the phaser against the side of Pike's head.
Jenkins cut off any response from the Captain by opening the door and shoving his captives out, remaining close behind them to keep himself covered from the security team. Said security team snapped their guns up and immediately trained them on the threat.
"Halt!" The security team shouted as one, stepping forward to block off the exit to the corridor completely.
"Back off!" Jenkins shook his hostages and held his phaser against the Captain's head. "Or I'll kill them."
The security team remained where they were just like Pike had said they would. "This is over, give up." Pike ground out, annoyance bleeding through as he was shaken round like a rag doll. He had been trying to find any give in the bindings on his wrists since this nightmare began but sadly was having no luck. They were too damn tight.
"I don't give up." Jenkins snarled. "If I can't complete my mission then survival is all that matters. I want out of here." He accompanied the command with a further shake to both their bound bodies.
"That's not going to happen." The security team and Pike responded adamantly at the same time.
The security team stood resolute, the two sides in the corridor at a complete stand still. Pike felt his pulse begin to pick up speed as he watched the security team try to get a clear shot; he wanted to help out but being tied to Tilly made this much more difficult. Jenkins had two targets to cover him and two chances to kill somebody.
Jenkins lost what little patience he had left and decided to call their bluff. "Alright you want to play it this way, I have two hostages so I can kill one to show how serious I am."
The phaser moved from Pike's head to Tilly's and he started a countdown, calling their bluff. "You've got 5 seconds to start listening to me."
"5."
No, this wasn't right. It was supposed to be him, Jenkins had the gun against his head not Tilly's.
"4."
Pike struggled manically, trying to turn around and face Jenkins, knock his hand away, do anything to stop this disaster from happening.
"3."
Jenkins gripped Pike's arm firmly keeping him facing forwards.
"2."
Tilly let out a choked cry as the phaser collided with her head.
"1."
Pike yelled and bucked against Evan. Tilly closed her eyes.
A/N - Sorry this took a little longer than expected, I just kept running out of time to sit down and write! Anyway there's going to be one more part after this which will be quite a bit longer, and sorry about the whole cliffhanger ending :D
