Chapter 9: Emergency Protocol


Khan kicks open the hatch of the Jefferies Tube and slips out, already feeling the first twinge in his back, alerting him to the fact that the painkiller will not keep up its effects for much longer. He lands on his feet and faces two security officers who apparently have managed to escape capture for the time being.

They both have their weapons raised until they realise who they are facing and lower them, again.

Khan can hear commotion from the corridor, hurries over to one of the cells and opens it.
"Close it behind me," he tells them, and they both look at each other in confusion. "Hurry!" he adds, and once they comply, he quickly explains, "Doctor McCoy has reminded me of the fact that I am the only member of this crew who is not listed among the ranks. He has also marginally modified my medical record to support the appearance that I am here against my will."

"You'll try to deceive them," says one of the officers.

Khan only manages to nod before the door is blasted open, and in the blink of an eye, his entire demeanour changes. His expression, the way he carries his body... all of it is given a dark and angry edge that he hasn't felt in a long time. He adds impatience that he's never allowed himself to express, not even when in captivity, before.

A group of S'Wajay storms into the room, and it only takes seconds before they apprehend the two security officers, merely one of their own crumbling in the crossfire.

The one who appears to be in charge of the group barks, "Get them to the cargo bay!"

Khan watches them, minutely, while pacing up and down his cell. He carefully controls his body language to hide that he is analysing every step they take. The S'Wajay on the floor is clearly dead from the brief scuffle, but none of the others appear to care. They fight in small groups, apparently trained to take over a ship with enough force in their first strike and in such a short time that the enemy has no chance to react to the threat. He doubts this is a military operation and definitely not in tune with what Khan has read about the culture's military forces. No... They are rogue fighters. Mercenaries. Pirates.

He suppresses the visual cues of his satisfaction just as he has suppressed the ones of his observation.
Good. People who are only after their personal gain and have no delusions about moral superiority are much easier to manipulate.

The leader gives Khan a quick and smug once-over, clearly not in the least interested in aiding a prisoner who is of no consequence, but Khan has managed to make people let him escape with more reason behind their actions than greed.

When the S'Wajay turns to follow hir comrades, Khan raises his voice. "Are you having fun trying to take over the bridge without help?" he asks, showing a smug smirk that easily outdoes the pirate's.

The pirate's smug smirk fades immediately, but ze turns and leaves, nonetheless.

Khan doesn't mind. It won't be long before whoever this lackey has to report to will return with questions.
And he knows quite well that it will not be possible to take over his ship. Board it, take everyone captive and possibly destroy it. But not take it over; not without taking the systems apart completely.
The Enterprise had been in a sorry state of security when he had first joined the crew, but, thanks to his strategic insight, paired with Mister Scott's innovative mind, Doctor Marcus' knowledge about weaponry, Mister Spock's logical analyses, Lieutenant Uhura's way with (and around) language use, and Captain Kirk's knack for… 'creative programming'… the bridge and system could go into complete lockdown.
It is still possible to enter the bridge – if the attacker is determined and creative enough – but the controls are off limits for anyone but the captain in case of an enemy takeover.
Since the ship is still in one piece, Khan can only assume that the self-destruction, at least, has not been activated, yet.


It takes longer than Khan has initially expected for someone to find him again – it's closer to ten rather than five minutes – but he suspects (or hopes) that this means that the S'Wajay have possibly found the false information Doctor McCoy has added to the data base. It is always easier to convince people of lies when they have found it to be true, themselves, first.
It is, of course, always preferable to simply tell the truth… There is usually enough truth to tell to convince someone of a lie.

He slips back into his character when the door opens. He has feared for a moment that it would remind him of a too painful past, and that this might be distracting. He is relieved to find himself feeling stronger, instead. The chasm between who he is and who he is portraying is staggeringly large, and he is almost dizzy with the realisation.
He breathes through the momentary happiness and faces the ship's captors.

"Grown frustrated, yet?" he asks, smugly. He's not quite sure if he is speaking to the pirates' captain or merely another higher-up lackey.

The pirate steps closer, imperiously, four guards watching hir back.

Probably captain, then, Khan decides. He straightens to compensate for the S'Wajay's considerable height.

"If you know what is good for you, you will cooperate," the pirate says.

Khan merely raises an eyebrow. "I am quite adept at cooperation," he replies, sarcastically. "Or I would have been killed several times over." No lie, so far.

The S'Wajay huffs. "Your medical records state that you were beginning to be increasingly difficult to handle…"

Khan tilts his head, and his lips quirk in amusement. "Cooperation of course implies that there is some kind of reward." He pauses, catching the pirate's eyes. "I was merely slowly coming to the conclusion that the reward was no longer adequate."

That earns him a chuckle. "Opportunist. I can appreciate that."

Khan has expected that.

"What is your name, prisoner?"

"Khan."

The pirate struts up and down in front of the cell. "Well, then, Khan. You have mentioned to my crew that you have information about this formidable ship…" ze leaves the sentence hanging, implying that Khan had better have that information.

Khan merely smiles, coldly and steps up to the glass, capturing the pirate's eyes again, making hir freeze in hir secure steps, despite their positions.
"Why should I betray the hand that feeds me even if the other hand holds me captive, when the alternative is nothing but a common pirate?"

That earns Khan a reaction. The pirate straightens now, a gurgling sound of fury escaping the undulating throat, and a canvas of leathery skin opening like a sail behind the head before it settles again.

It reminds Khan eerily of a frilled dragon lizard, but despite of the height and the frightening demeanour, he doesn't even blink and remains utterly unimpressed.

The pirate leans closer and lowers hir vibrating voice. "We have been betrayed by our own people!" ze hisses. "Doing nothing but going about our business."

Khan suppresses a shiver and waits for further explanations, mentally reviewing everything he has read about the S'Wajay and hoping that this is all that they have in common.

"And then they changed the laws…" ze says the word as if it is an insult, "… forcing us to…" ze smiles wickedly, "… adapt."

The Trade and Profit Guild, Khan remembers, and he is immediately glad that his initial assessment has been correct, and he is not facing what basically could be an earlier version of himself. Even at his worst, he would not have dismissed the death of one of his own as these people do. This attack is not about freedom or protection. It is simple greed.
And as Khan knows, it has been the reason for a long time. The Trade and Profit Guild had started to abuse its power and control over the planet, decades ago, leaving millions in poverty and starved. When the people rioted and demanded a change in government, they succeeded.
Khan can only assume that, while these people may have been something akin to state-sanctioned pirates at some point, they are no longer that.
"And I assume you wish to use this ship to convince your government to… reconsider." He does not add what that would entail. Power imbalance, hunger and death, once more.

"Precisely," ze gurgles.

Now that Khan knows who he is dealing with, he accordingly schools his features.
"I see. Well," he shrugs and moves from the glass, nonchalantly, "you won't be able to. The ship will self-destruct if you attempt to take over the controls."

The gurgles become decidedly impatient and unfriendly. "The captain will have to cooperate, as well!"

Khan chuckles and turns to look at the pirate. "The captain can also initiate a number of security protocols once on the bridge, and you will not know what has been done, until it is too late."

The S'Wajay scowls at him, which makes hir skin tint grey.

"And, I assume, you could not yet identify the captain?"

The S'Wajay tilts hir head absurdly far to the side. "We have… methods to convince the crew to give up the identity of your captain."

Khan nods in mock-thought. "And absolutely no way of knowing that he won't betray you when given half a chance."

The fan behind the pirate's head flares, again, for a second. "We will simply have to find someone to bypass that security clearance."

It's hardly possible, at this point, Khan knows. Nothing can be done without Kirk on the bridge without weeks of mechanical work; definitely not what Khan has in mind…
He spreads his arms. "I am just a lowly prisoner," he says, sardonically. "I have no clearance to open so much as a can of peaches."

The pirate once more steps closer to the glass. "Then what use are you to me?" ze growls.

Khan shrugs, again, smiles disarmingly and flops down on the bed in the corner. He regrets the last action the moment he performs it, as a sharp pain shoots from his back, making his legs tingle and his knees give out. He manages to breathe through it and mask it as simple annoyance.
"None whatsoever."
He realises after a second that his leg movement is not restricted, but his back is definitely in no state for anything other than standing and careful walking.

The pirate fluffs hir shoulders, spins on hir heels and struts out. "Get the prisoner out of the cell and bring him to the cargo bay!" ze barks.

The pirate guards have no issue with opening the cell, and two of them grab Khan by his arms and haul him to his feet. This time, it is decidedly harder to ignore the pain, but he manages to keep up with the large steps of his capturers' long, spindly legs and disguises his grimace of pain as an angry scowl.

They drag him through the empty corridors towards the cargo bay. None of the pirates are in sight. They must be waiting for further instructions to either destroy the ship or take over the bridge.
Khan expects them to be watching the prisoners, still. They need the captain to circumvent the lockdown. They need to know how to play the captain. They… need someone willing to betray him.
He is just going to have to show them what a person like that might look like.

The pirate captain struts ahead, never looking back whether or not hir people bring along Khan. Ze doesn't have to.

As expected, there are more guards outside the cargo bay. Khan isn't yet sure whether they have managed to enter engineering, or if they even think that it would do any good before they have control over the bridge.

The door to the cargo area opens for the pirate captain, and Khan scans the room the moment he is inside. Given the number of pirates (and their state of irritation and agitation because of the delay), he finds it likely that they are probably not in engineering or near the bridge.

The Enterprise crew members are huddled on the floor in large groups and near the walls, and those who can look up when he is being brought inside. Some of them are tied up, others unconscious.

Khan finds the eyes of McCoy who has managed to reach his destination and is allowed to treat the injured for the time being along with the few of his staff that are present and unharmed.
The whole crew is not here, however, and Khan can feel anger boil hotter, before he forces it down. He knows that the crew is kept alive because the pirates still need the ship's captain and the security that the ship is in their hands.

They drag Khan to the middle where everyone can see him, and the pirate captain fluffs in front of him.

"Well, now… Khan," ze purrs the name, which sends an icy shiver down Khan's spine. "We will see whether or not these Humans treat their prisoners well enough to ensure their loyalty." Ze sounds and looks very much like ze doesn't believe that this is the case and grabs Khan's chin with spindly fingers to make him look up.

Khan straightens proudly and doesn't give hir the satisfaction of reacting to the treatment. He huffs.
"Your boasting is neither effective nor necessary, pirate."

The pirate strikes him across the face, and Khan's back screams in agony at the sudden jolt.

Khan has expected that reaction, but he knows that he mustn't appear too eager to help the pirates, even if he is miming the prisoner.

The pirate struts away from Khan and looks around the room. "Is the captain in this room, Khan?"

Khan doesn't immediately reply.

"You could gain your freedom…" the pirate coaxes.

Khan huffs, again. "Out of the hands of someone who treats me well and into the hands of mercenaries who leave their dead to lie where they fall with no care."

The pirate is in front of him within the blink of an eye. "No. It is either death or possible death," ze says, sweetly.

Khan thinks that this is probably enough of a threat for him to credibly give in. Not that he is going to give up the captain, of course. He just needs to get the captain to the bridge… And he knows just the person to convince the pirates of that.

"Well, then…" Khan says, smarmily. "I believe our cooperation must come to an end. Captain Sulu."
He lifts his head, looking Sulu straight in the eyes, hoping that the man can put on his game face even without preparation time.

Sulu – who obviously doesn't need preparation time at all – lifts his head, defiantly, and stares back with hard eyes.
"I will not forget your betrayal, Khan," he says, his voice as captainly as Khan remembers it being from the first time he's ever heard it. Sulu stands, proudly. "After everything we have done for you!"

Immediately, Sulu is surrounded by greedy S'Wajay who look like they have caught the taste of impending blood in the air, two of which grab both his arms.

The pirate captain struts over to Sulu. "You will grant us entry to the bridge…"

"I told you," Khan interrupts him, "if you let the captain so much as touch the consoles on the bridge, he can activate a number of emergency protocols that you won't be able to counter with your focus on first-strike tactics."
And he is now sure more than ever that the pirates do rely on the first strike, or they wouldn't all sit around here, not knowing what to do until they can blackmail someone to let them on the bridge.

The pirate scowls at him for the interruption.

Khan continues, undeterred. "Since, apparently, you managed to get him off the bridge by sheer dumb luck in the first place."

The pirate's fan flares, briefly, but ze obviously does not deem Khan worth losing hir composure over in front of the enemy captain.
Ze directs hir sickly sweet voice at Khan, again. "Well, then, Khan, since you have betrayed this crew, I am sure that you will help us defeat them to save your own skin."

Khan gives an impressive impression of someone deflating in defeat.

"Won't you?"

Khan hesitates and shares an almost heart-breaking look with Sulu.

Sulu catches on, as expected. "Don't do it, Khan!"

Khan, naturally, does it, anyway. "You need a technician who would be likely to give you the access you wish in exchange for the captain's life."

The pirate grabs Sulu's chin this time, but keeps hir eyes on Khan. "And who would you suggest?" Ze squints at Sulu to keep track of his reaction, and Sulu doesn't disappoint.

Khan breathes, deeply. "Perhaps Chekov or Uhura," he says, finally, and with enough hesitation to make the pirate suspicious.

The pirate falls for it, hook, line and sinker. "But…?" ze prompts.

Sulu dramatically shakes his head in the pirate's grasp and sends Khan an absolutely beautiful pleading look.

Khan holds his breath and then rushes out. "Go for Kirk. He shares a… connection with the captain." He adds enough of an undertone to the'connection' to make the pirates salivate at the blackmail potential.

The pirate captain gurgles and half-turns to tilt hir head at Khan. "And who is this… Kirk?"

Sulu struggles in his captors' hold. "You damn bastard pretended to be his friend!"

"I pretended?" Khan protests, sounding quite distraught. "I was nothing but your prisoner! You ordered your doctor to operate on my back, just to control me!"

The pirate captain greedily gurgles some more, visibly amused.

"I tried," Sulu argues right back. "I gave you one chance after the other. Now see where it brought me and my crew!"

"It is my right to try and survive!"

"Enough!" the pirate captain hisses, apparently having been amused enough. "Where is Kirk?"

Khan crestfallen lowers his eyes before looking up, once more, his eyes finding Kirk who is among the group with McCoy. "Next to the doctor. Wearing a black shirt."

Kirk is apprehended within seconds, protesting wide-eyed.

Khan thinks that the lot of them deserve some sort of award for that performance, but then again, they are in an extreme situation, and trying this trick only marginally evens out their odds.

Sulu struggles some more. "There's not much I can do from the bridge, anyway," he tries to reason, desperately. "You've damaged the ship too much during your attack. We'll have to fix that from engineering, first."

The pirate captain is unimpressed, as – so Khan assumes – was Sulu's intention.
"We do not need you to do anything at all, captain. And we never had the intention to destroy this useful vessel." Ze tilts hir head. "My people have taken care of the damage for the time being."

Khan can see Scotty readying himself to jump up and being held back by the people next to him. Clearly, he does not like anyone tinkering with his lady.
Just as clearly, Khan has underestimated the S'Wajay's number, if the claim is true and there are pirates in engineering.
On the upside, if they have indeed fixed what must have been damaged during the attack, this means that there should be something they can do once on the bridge without any additional difficulties of side-stepping damaged systems.

The pirate captain gurgles and turns back towards the door. "If you are cooperative, captain, I'll let your crew live, and if your Kirk cooperates, I might even let you live."

Khan's fingers twitch when Kirk is being pulled towards and past him with Sulu, the three of them being dragged out of the cargo bay.

Kirk's face is a mask of anger when he speaks. "I will never forget what you did today, and I will not allow anyone else to forget it, either."

The walking sends throbs up and down Khan's spine, and he's not sure if the lessened piercing pain is a good or a bad sign. He knows that his body can heal a lot, given enough time, but he has the feeling that, after all of this, he will be in need of some more of their doctor's tender care.
He carefully controls his expression, as not to let Kirk know about his (substantial but bearable) pain and worry.
"We always knew it would come to this, sooner or later, didn't we, Kirk?"

Kirk gets pushed ahead, his captors apparently not interested in squabble, but he still manages to say, "I guess I hoped it wouldn't have to."

Once they reach the door to the bridge, the pirate captain barks, "Bring Kirk up front!"

Khan watches Kirk's body language and hopes that the deception will come more easily to him than he fears. Kirk is not naturally deceptive; though his natural playfulness might come in handy in its stead.

"Open the door, Kirk," the pirate captain demands as Kirk is being shoved next to the controls.

The pirates holding Sulu drag him closer as well, while Khan is watching everything from the back.

"Don't do it, Jim," Sulu pleads.

The pirate captain leans down to hiss into Kirk's ear. "This is the only chance that you, your crew and your captain will come out of this alive, Kirk. The ship is not worth all those lives…"

"Think of the Prime Directive," Sulu reasons. "You know what they'll use the Enterprise for if we let them have her!"

The pirate captain tilts hir head towards Sulu. "Shut him up!"

One of Sulu's captors holds Sulu still while the other hits him, making his head swivel to the side and his temple bleed. He doesn't pass out, but he squeezes his eyes shut.

"No!" Kirk immediately yells, pulling at his captors' strong hold. "Look," he says, frantically, "this isn't worth it, Hikaru. It's not. This planet isn't our concern! It's their own damn fault that they never took care of their past properly!"

Sulu weakly shakes his head, while Khan is relieved to hear that his conclusion about the Trade and Profit Guild had been correct.

"Jim, we're explorers. This isn't a war ship!"

Kirk's jaw sets. "Sorry," he says, sounding every bit like he does when he wants to do something reckless or seemingly stupid that Spock disagrees with, and Khan finds himself buying the performance.

With a few touches of Kirk's fingers, the bridge door opens, and the pirate captain's eyes shine with greed when ze enters ahead of all.

Khan controls his breathing, forcing his excitement down to a less perceptible level. The pirates should be too excited themselves or at least not trained enough to notice such nuances, though. Not in an alien species they have never encountered before.

If Kirk will use the emergency protocol that Khan has in mind, that would still leave the three of them on the bridge with seven very tall, very strong and soon very angry aliens. He curses himself for not having included a scenario such as this one in his emergency concepts. But, at the time, they all thought it safer to not include the bridge in any such protocols, to minimise the risk of abuse. Even emergency protocols are potentially open for being used by someone through a loophole. Security is only as secure as the threats you already know, and they are in unchartered space…
If they get out of this, they will probably reconsider this position.

The pirate captain immediately goes for the captain's chair and sits. The downside of that chair is that – while you can certainly oversee the bridge and the view screen – the controls are definitely out of sight for those who are unfamiliar with them.
"Bring the captain to me, but keep Khan by the door. We wouldn't want him have a change of heart and interfere."

Khan keeps the distance to where emergency weapons are stowed in mind, and has already found the likeliest spot to quickly take out their tall, strong and angry captors.

The two S'Wajay holding Kirk bring him to the station Chekov usually occupies and sit him down, and Khan captures Sulu's eyes. Near imperceptively, he moves his fingers and points at the numerous joints that attach the S'Wajay's legs to their torsos. The legs move in a fluid way, which means that their particular mobility also presents a weak spot.

Sulu blinks, slowly, deliberately, then he keeps an eye on Kirk's controls, which he can read by Kirk's hand movements alone, unlike the S'Wajay.

"Remember, Kirk," the pirate captain says, "if you attempt to trick me, your captain will die."

Kirk shakes off the S'Wajay's hands that are holding him, which they allow, but they remain standing by his side. He tilts his head to the side, but refuses to look at the pirate sitting is his goddamn chair!
"If the captain dies, I'm stopping, and you won't get anyone else with the necessary clearance level to help you. Not against the captain's standing order."
He shares a look with Sulu, which, had the pirates paid any attention to such details, would have been completely out of character. He still needs to know if Sulu can take care of his situation, once the pirates realise that something has gone wrong. And Kirk knows damn well that they will…

The pirate captain appears unconcerned and waves a bored hand in Kirk's general direction. "Restore bridge control and transfer it to me."

"It's not that easy, okay?!" Kirk protests and starts the console, nonetheless, which bleeps at the attempt, letting them know that bridge control is not accessible.
"Restore emergency bridge control. Authorisation Kirk. One-Two-Five-Eight-Nine."

"Awaiting input," the computer informs him.

Kirk's fingers slide over the controls.

"Scan in progress. Scan complete."

Kirk enters another command and holds his breath.

"Emergency protocol executed."

The pirate captain leans forward in hir seat. "What was that? Is it done?"

Kirk, Sulu and Khan have no delusions about anyone making it from cargo bay to the bridge in time…

Kirk sends Sulu another look, and Sulu wastes no time dislodging the hold of his captors, twisting and aiming straight for the hips, one after the other, with kicks.

Kirk dodges the phaser fire from the pirate captain who has obviously decided that trusting the words of these officers is no longer advised. The console goes up in flames, but Kirk remains unharmed.

Khan's mobility is severely limited, which one of his captors unfortunately is alert enough to notice. Khan manages to twist out of their hold, causing a painful jolt in his back, and has one of them falling to the floor unarmed… Khan uses the acquired weapon to fire at one of the pirates who attack Kirk, but then his second captor makes use of Khan's restrictive movements and goes straight for the weak spot with hir foot.

There is another sharp pain to Khan's back, and he crumbles like a doll with its strings cut. After only a second, he realises that the pain radiates upwards, but not downwards, and he can no longer move his lower body.
Not having any time to worry, he twists his upper body away from another blow of the pirate above him, before that one falls, as well.

Khan turns back to see that, apparently, Kirk has landed that shot, but now, they are all three once more unarmed, Sulu is unconscious but breathing, and the pirate captain is still standing and rushing over to Kirk, threateningly, grabbing him by his collar and hauling him to his feet.

"So good to meet you, captain," the pirate hisses and pushes Kirk down onto the console.

Kirk scowls at hir. "Our system has just transported everyone who is not part of this crew into the brig and locked them in. My people will be here within a minute," he says, steadily, despite of his situation. "What do you want? Do you expect me to beg?"

"No, Mister Kirk. I expect you to die." Hir fan flares and ze bends hir legs to lean closer over Kirk, while hir cold fingers grab Kirk's neck.

Khan estimates that it's perhaps another thirty seconds before their crew members manage to get to the bridge, which might well be too late. The weapon of the S'Wajay next to him on the floor that Kirk has incapacitated is out of reach, and he can hardly move.
He can see it, however, and thinks that he will just have to face McCoy's wrath (or perhaps even learn about the limits of his healing abilities if he is particularly unlucky) for the move he has in mind, but…
He twists his upper body with all the considerable strength he possesses, groaning at the pain and makes a grab at the weapon. He twists back and can still look the pirate captain who has turned hir head into the eyes before he fires.

Kirk shoves the pirate off himself, his wide eyes on Khan who collapses breathlessly. He sees Sulu stir and shake his head, thankfully, so that he doesn't have to decide whom to tend to, first.
He darts to Khan and kneels by his side, but still looks behind him for a second.
"Sulu, can you make sure they all stay down?"

Sulu groans but gets to his feet with a determined expression. "You can bet your ass, captain."

Kirk cups the side of Khan's face with one hand. "Don't move. We'll get you to medical in a sec, alright?" He doesn't ask whether or not Khan is in pain and whether or not he can move his legs. The answers are frighteningly obvious.

Khan blinks instead of giving a nod. "Everything will be alright, James. Do not fret."

Kirk looks vaguely insulted at the term 'fret' in such a situation.

"Doctor McCoy has performed larger miracles," Khan adds.

Kirk's startlingly blue eyes glisten, traitorously, and then the door bursts open and the security storms in.
"McCoy! Get McCoy!" Kirk doesn't waste a second to yell.

Some of the officers leave the bridge again, assumingly to get the doctor who would not have been far behind, while the others confirm the death of the present pirates.

Khan just smiles, entirely unconcerned. "And you are safe. As is the crew and the ship."

Kirk leans closer. "I meant it, you know. I won't forget this, and I won't let anyone else forget it."

"I know, James."

McCoy rushes onto the bridge and crouches at his patient's side with a tricorder in his hand.
"Goddammit, Khan!" he rants while running the scanner over his back studying the readings. "Couldn't you have gotten rid of that stupid goddamn back brace sooner, you goddamn stubborn bastard?" He frowns, frantically. "Shit. I need a site-to-site transport to sick bay."

Kirk stands. "I'll do it from the transporter room. The station here's fried, and most controls are still under lockdown."

"Sit your ass back down, captain!" McCoy barks. "You're not to leave here before everything's under control and you damn well know it." He grumbles under his breath when Kirk realises what he's just said and sits back down, looking at Khan who seems inappropriately amused.

"McCoy to Scott!"

"Scott here, doctor."

"I need you to get to the transporter room and transport Mister Singh directly to sick bay."

"Stand by."

Kirk rubs his face. "Can you fix him?"

Despite the urgency, McCoy doesn't look particularly worried. "If he wasn't who he is, his back might get a fifty-fifty chance. As it is… I'm more optimistic." He frowns at Khan who turns his head to look at him. "If he doesn't move any more!"

Khan grins, weakly. "Apologies, doctor."

"Ready," Scot reports.

McCoy leans back from Khan and signs Kirk to do the same. "I need him on an operating table in the exact same position he's in, now," he instructs Scott.

"Done," Scott confirms, and Khan dissolves, keeping his eyes on Kirk for as long as he can.

McCoy remains where he is for a moment longer. "He'll probably be fine, Jim." He puts a hand on Kirk's shoulder. "Take care of the ship, her crew, the prisoners and those useless idiots on the planet's surface. Then you can come by to check on him."

Kirk clears his throat, and they both stand.

"Alright?"

"Yeah. It's just… you didn't see him fall."

"No… but I can imagine it. He probably fell like a house of cards, given those readings," he says, lifting the tricorder. Then, seeing the tortured expression on Kirk's face, he smiles, ruefully and claps his arm. "I'll fix him," he says, decisively and leaves.


McCoy finds Khan still alone in sick bay and calls every one of his staff who is not tending to injured crew members to join him, then he steps up to the operating table.

Khan blinks, calmly.

"Alright," McCoy begins, "we have to clean up this pig sty before we can safely operate."

Khan expects the doctor to ask if he would like a painkiller until they are ready for him. This is an offer he definitely would not refuse, at this point. But it's not what McCoy tells him.

"I'd like to put you under until then to make sure you don't move and don't have to bear the pain. We have to work around you, and it would be safer."

Two nurses and Doctor Marcus enter behind them, and they both briefly look up, before McCoy finishes his offer.

"Alright?"

Khan blinks, again, in lieu of a nod. "Whatever you think is best, doctor."

McCoy leans closer. "That was quite a twist you must have performed, earlier…" Much to Khan's surprise, he doesn't sound as grumpily accusing as he normally would.

"The captain was about to be killed."

McCoy's lip twitches. "Yeah. I figured it must have been something like that, given the readings." He smiles. "Thank you."

"It was entirely selfish, I assure you."

McCoy huffs, amused. He wouldn't like to live in a universe without Jim, either. He approves of the altruistic kind of selfishness… Even Spock would probably agree in this case.
"Sleep well, Mister Singh."

And Khan does, hoping for a less eventful morning, this time around.


TBC