David's eyes snapped open and he groaned aloud. Everything hurt. His back, his throat, even his hair and the soles of his feet ached. One entire side of his face felt like he'd been hit by a truck. He couldn't remember a time when waking up had ever sucked more.
I'm in the Genesis cave. Why am I in the Genesis cave? He was in the Genesis cave because they'd been hiding from Reliant. Yes, that was it. He, Mother, and Jedda had beamed down with Genesis and some supplies to prevent Starfleet from seizing Genesis. But the time after that was a blank.
His mind was clearing, so he decided to assess his situation. He made a few observations. Observation No.1: He was tied up. Observation No.2: There was a man sitting across from him.
The man raised an eyebrow. "You're awake. I was wondering when you'd decide to rejoin us in the land of the living."
David looked around and saw no one else. "Where are Mother and Jedda?" he demanded. "And who are you?"
"Dr. Leonard Horatio McCoy, at your service. I'm not surprised you're confused; with that concussion, you may never get your memory of the last few hours back." His face softened. "You might want to brace yourself. I haven't got much good news for you."
Kirk grunted with effort as he shifted the pile of logs he was carrying into a more comfortable position. He'd initially been against the idea of a fire, worrying about advertising their position through a plume of smoke. But Carol insisted that despite the cave's tropical appearance, it got extremely cold at night, and the fire would be necessary if they didn't want to freeze to death. "Besides," she'd argued, "it'll only be at night, so unless Khan can see in the dark, I doubt he'll be able to detect us so long as we keep it as small as possible."
"I wouldn't be surprised to find he can see in the dark," Kirk grumbled to himself now. "I'll bet he has slitted eyes like a cat. It'd fit his otherwise Satanic image." Suddenly he realized that nothing around him looked familiar. "Great," he groused. "Just my luck. That's exactly what I need, to get lost in this place with a homicidal genetically-engineered lab rat after me…" He trailed off into profanities as he walked on. Eventually he found himself on a bit of a rise. He could actually see quite a ways, so he set down his load and took the opportunity to look around.
It was a startlingly lovely view. For a moment he forgot his dire situation and just admired the paradise laid out beneath his feet. Green and lovely, with a waterfall off in the distance… "I could spend quite a while here, actually," he mused.
He caught sight of movement in the scene beneath him and stiffened instinctually. Then he relaxed. It was just Carol getting water. He could see the camp as well, so he started to bend down to pick up the logs and head back. He straightened again when another movement caught his eye. He stared for a moment, wondering if he'd just imagined it. You're getting paranoid, old - Wait! There it was again! He pulled a set of compact binoculars off his belt and focused on the movement. I know you're there…
He scanned the surrounding area patiently, working in a rough grid pattern. He gasped suddenly as he identified the source of the movement: Khan, moving through the undergrowth. The man was little more than a shadow, barely detectable even with Kirk's binoculars. Khan was making his way stealthily towards their camp - and Carol.
Forgetting all about the wood, Kirk sprinted down the hill and into the undergrowth, planning wildly all the way. Can't outsneak him, can't outbrawl him, what do I do, what do I do? He decided against dealing with Khan at all, and instead veered in the direction of the camp. "Carol!" he screamed. "Carol! Run!" He instinctively dived, and the whistling arrow that would have pierced his liver instead only scraped his scalp. Arrows?! Has the man gone completely mad? Dumb question. Of course he has.
Carol was hiding behind a tree when he got to her. "What do we do?" she hissed at him. "There's a crazy man firing ARROWS at us! ARROWS! In the 23rd century? Is he insane?!"
"Totally and irreversibly," Kirk replied. "We need to get moving before he skewers us to one of these trees. You go first while I keep him busy. I'll follow once you're safely out of the way."
Carol nodded and bolted. Kirk peeked out from behind his tree and saw Khan advancing. He'd carved a massive bow and some arrows out of wood, as well as fashioning a makeshift quiver. He had an arrow notched in the bow and was steadily moving towards the camp. Kirk moved back a bit and decided to play with him a bit. "I'll say this for you, you're persistent!" he called. Khan swiveled in his direction. His hearing was eerie, for even though he couldn't see Kirk, his arrow was pointed directly between Kirk's eyes.
"Face me like a man, Kirk!" Khan roared.
"I'll face you, but I'm not too fond of those arrows. Put them away and we'll talk."
"It makes no difference! I will have vengeance, for myself and my people!"
"Vengeance? For what? We went through this, remember? You're a murderer! You deserve everything that happened to you, and so do your people! I don't care what kind of hell you went through! I don't even know! But whatever it is, I'd stake my life that you deserved every bit of it!" The whole time he talked, Kirk kept moving, but Khan somehow kept his arrow centered on the head of a man he couldn't see, using only the sound of Kirk's voice to guide his aim.
Khan was quivering with rage. "You know nothing of my suffering!"
"Yeah, you said that already. I don't need to, like I said already." Kirk had found a stick about a foot long and some flexible vine, and he was making good use of them.
"You are very quick to pass judgment on a man you have only met twice, Admiral." Khan's voice had lowered to a bone-chilling purr.
Kirk was working up a good stew of righteous indignation. "You. Are. A. killer! You have murdered thousands of innocent people, butchered entire countries! What more do I need to pass judgment on you?!"
Dead silence for a moment. Then, so quietly Kirk barely heard it: "The truth."
Kirk snorted. "And what truth is that? That all of those people deserved to be bombed? That Captain Terrell deserved to die horribly with a worm in his brain? That Saavik deserved to be shot in the back?"
"Why should I tell you?" Khan snarled. "You have branded me in your mind as a monster. You will never listen to me."
Kirk had finished with his little project, and he picked up a small pebble as the finishing touch. "You're right, I won't." He would only have one shot at this.
"And neither will anyone else. Thus, it is simpler to kill you and steal a device that will enable me to create a new home for my people."
"You could do that -" Kirk fitted the pebble into his crude but effective slingshot, "- or I could knock some sense into you!" With that, he leapt out from behind the tree and fired his slingshot directly at Khan's face. Unfortunately, Khan's reflexes were superior to Kirk's slingshot. He ducked, and on his way up, returned fire with his arrow. But the split second it took him to duck gave Kirk enough time to dart into the trees.
He ran for his life, but he could almost feel the pounding footsteps behind him. Suddenly there was a loud CRACK! behind him and a howl of fury. He skidded to a halt and turned, and abruptly had to fight the urge to laugh. Khan was dangling by one foot from a tall tree. The vine wrapped around Khan's lower leg was tied to a branch of the tree. Kirk decided to stop fighting. He bent over, rested his hands on his knees, and laughed like a maniac. Khan bellowed something that might have been a command to shut up, but came out as a strangled, incoherent shriek of rage.
"Come on!" Kirk heard Carol shout. He decided to quit while he was ahead, and headed for the hills.
I am so, so sorry that this took so long. Life got really, really crazy and intense there for a while. You can stab at me from Hell's heart or whatever, just so long as you keep reading and reviewing!