Chapter 11
AN: Wow, thanks so much to my new reviewers, I really enjoyed hearing from you! I want to thank everyone personally: Shia, MJ, Rocking the Red Head, glitterlove, Iam sherlocked, Freeway girl, Mrs. harrison Holmes, margaret7122, lovingcurlyblackhair(very nice to hear from you lady!), rlu1, poodlewarriors, and Anna! Thanks to everyone who is still reading this! You guys are awesome! Hugs!
This chapter is a bit long, sorry about that! More movie stuff with my own twist!
Disclaimer: Movie and book, not mine!
Jim shook his head and snapped his communicator shut. At least Scotty was still speaking to him and he felt certain that the Scotsman would find out what those coordinates led too. He walked down the corridor and to the lift which would take him to the bridge. Once he stepped onto the bridge, his eyes fell on the very two men that he had been looking for.
"Okay gentlemen, who wants to help me pop open one of those torpedoes?" Jim asked.
Spock turned and regarded him with a blank expression while McCoy being McCoy decided to be McCoy. "Are you out of your corn fed mind? You want to open a live torpedo on the ship and let me guess why, because that psycho super human dared you too?"
Jim blinked. "So he is a superman?"
"What?" McCoy snapped gruffly. "Well so far all of the tests I've run point to that conclusion. Now don't change the subject damnit! Why in the hell would you want to open a torpedo?
"Because there is more than meets the eye to this Bones. This man who attacked a room full of Starfleet Generals and Admirals saved our lives on Kronos! He could've let the Klingons kill us or destroy us himself, so why did he do it? And why was he so adamant about knowing the exact number of torpedoes? And then this same man, who single handedly takes out over two dozen Klingons alone, suddenly surrenders? Why Bones? It doesn't make sense?" Jim said flustered.
McCoy rolled his eyes. "He's playing you Jim! He knows that you're emotional over this, over Pike and he's…"
"No Bones, that's not it! There's something more." Jim interrupted.
"I am sorry Captain, but I agree with Dr. McCoy about…"
"Oh no you don't Mr. Spock, don't agree with me, I find it unnerving." McCoy said.
"Then perhaps you should take your own advice doctor and try to not be led by your emotions. I agree with you in that the torpedo should not be opened in the vicinity of the Enterprise, but there is a planetoid within shuttle distance that would suffice." Spock said.
"Okay fine!" McCoy said. "But who the hell is going to open it? Scotty is no longer with us in case that particular point escaped both of your…"
"Then perhaps Dr. Marcus could be of assistance. "Spock said raising that elegant brow. "She is a weapons specialist and showed particular interest in the torpedoes ever since coming aboard this ship."
Jim whirled around to look at him. "You mean you've known this whole time that she was Admiral's Marcus's daughter?"
Spock cocked his head. "Of course." He stated in that infuriating calm manner.
"When the hell were you going to tell me?" Jim snapped.
"When it became relevant, which it just did?"
Carol sat across the table in the conference room watching her Captain pace. "I am sorry Captain, that I didn't tell you who I was, but I was afraid you wouldn't let me on board and I had to get on board. I need to know why my father has placed so much importance on these weapons."
Jim stopped pacing and sat down across from her. "Look, whatever your reasons were for that…it's okay. If you had meant any malice, Spock would've informed me immediately of the deception. I just…it's not even your actual identity that I want to speak with you about."
Carol paled instantly, her nails digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood. Jim saw her distress and stood up, coming around the table to sit beside her. He took one of her hands in his and pried her fist apart. The small gesture seemed to bring her back from her distress and her hands relaxed. Slowly her gaze rose to meet his.
"I…um…I need to you to tell me how you know John Harrison." Jim asked gently and regretting it instantly.
Carol pulled her hand away and stood, moving to the other side of the room. "I don't want to talk about him Captain, please don't ask me too. I had no idea who he was or what he was planning until I boarded this ship and heard your ship wide message…saying he was a traitor and mur…" She stopped forcing her emotion down. "And a murderer."
"He implied that…" Jim began but stopped when she turned to look at him, her eyes glistening with the unshed tears.
"He used me Captain and I don't know why. I don't understand what he could have possibly wanted or hoped to gain by what he did." She said softly.
Jim nodded, looking thoughtful. "I believe that he means to…I don't know what he's planning, but he seems to have the impression that he has certain rights to you."
Carol laughed humorlessly. "He told you that I belonged to him?"
Jim's face became deadly serious. "Carol he told me that you were his, that he owned you, that he had marked you, and that I needed to give you back to him."
Carol's eyes widened in horror, her hand automatically touching her bandaged wound... "You won't let him…"
Jim cut her off and strode over to her. He stared down at her. "No! Carol absolutely not! He's not getting his hands on you! There's no way in hell that he will ever be anywhere near you again."
Carol shook her head. "I heard Mr. Spock telling Dr. McCoy about what happened on Kronos, that John destroyed two squadrons of Klingons by himself. How can you protect me from that?"
Jim looked at her neck. Slowly he reached out as if to touch her neck and she jerked away from him. "Did he do that to you Carol?"
She nodded, still leaning away from him.
"Let me see, please." He asked gently.
She didn't move away, but made no move to stop him as he slowly reached towards the wound and very gently pulled the bandage away from her neck. Jim's eyes widened at seeing the perfect set of teeth marred into her skin. The wound was red and irritated and it had yet to begin to scab over after she had scrubbed it in the shower.
Jim shook his head and frowned. "It's a deep wound. You should let Bones look at it."
She shook her head no vehemently. "No, I don't want anyone else to know…it's humiliating enough and…"
"You have nothing to be humiliated about. He lied to you Carol and manipulated you in the worst kind of way. This isn't your fault."
"But I always felt something was wrong…I knew that he was hiding things from me, if I had told someone…"
"What would you have told someone? He would've just lied and manipulated whoever you told and maybe have even hurt them. Carol, I'm sure that you didn't ask for any of this." Jim said gently
"It's going to scar isn't it? I'll have his mark forever." She said in a hoarse whisper. "I don't want to see him Jim…not ever again." She looked up at him with wide frightened eyes.
"We won't let him take you Carol I promise. John Harrison will never be free again. He's going to have to face the consequences of his crimes." Jim said awkwardly putting his arms around Carol and holding her to him. He couldn't help but be inwardly amused. He, Jim Kirk, had never been awkward around a woman in his life.
He held her a little longer before he spoke again. "Carol, I need your help. We have found a planet that is deserted and reachable by shuttle. I want to open one of the torpedoes. I want to know what they are; I believe that John Harrison has a deeper attachment to them than he has admitted. Can you help me?"
Carol nodded her head against his chest. "Of course I can help you. I'll need a set of steady hands. I imagine Dr. McCoy will do nicely."
They were silent a few more moments. Carol was surprised that she would find comfort in being held by a man after finding out about John, but she was comforted. She actually felt safe in the arms of her Captain and it seemed like it had been such a long time since she had felt safe.
McCoy sat on a bio bed in his own sick bay as the very same skittish young nurse that had helped him with Carol now attempted to take care of him. Nurse Helen Willis was another prodigy, like Chekov, 17 years old and brilliant. She excelled at the academy, finishing first in her class and graduated several years earlier than cadets many years older than her.
The problem with Nurse Willis was that she was painfully shy, extraordinarily so. If anyone spoke a word to her, she would flush and begin to babble. And even despite her tremendous academic career, she was very self conscious and didn't seem to trust her own abilities very much.
McCoy watched as her small little hands flinted nervously over the contusion on his forearm that she was currently bandaging. She was also testing to see if he had gotten the feeling back in his left hand and arm after it being trapped when the torpedo had armed itself. The grip from the torpedo closing on his had been vicious and excruciating. The good doctor had even considered removing his own arm just to free himself from the device. He was uncertain if his arm would be of any use after being gripped so harshly and removing his arm didn't seem to bad of an option, if it meant he could live, although he had not been sure that he would still be able to be a doctor when it was over.
"Nurse Willis I assure you that I am capable of bandaging my own damn arm." McCoy huffed.
She looked at him, her wide doe like eyes were full of apprehension. McCoy sighed deeply. She reminded him too much of his own daughter. Maybe that's why he felt a twinge of anger and quite a bit of fatherly protectiveness towards her when he saw her. He sure as hell would not want him own daughter off gallivanting to God only knows in the middle of outer space. His face softened. "I'm sorry Nurse Willis, you're right to do what you are doing. Ignore me, I'm just a cranky old man. You keep doing what you're doing because you do it very well."
McCoy felt the outer shell of his heart which housed all of his crankiness, gruffness, and sarcasm, crack just a little when she favored him with a large bright smile. She beamed at him and renewed her care of him with an air of excited vigor.
The door to the med bay opened and Jim and Spock entered. "Well what have we got?" Jim asked
"It's absolutely ingenious." Carol began. "Whoever made the alterations to this weapon has advanced knowledge of weapons and prolonged space travel. This drive unit has been retrofitted to contain a cryotube."
"Is he actually alive?" Jim asked.
"Yes he is." Carol said still studying the vitals of the sleeping man.
"Can he be revived?" Jim asked.
"Not without the proper equipment." McCoy said in a gruff voice as he hopped off the bio bed. "If we try to bring him back without the proper instruments, it could kill him Jim. This technology is beyond me."
"How advanced?" Spock asked McCoy coming to stand beside the doctor.
"It's not advanced Spock, this cryotube is ancient and I do mean ancient." McCoy answered.
Jim glanced at Carol. "So if this is ancient, how old is our frozen man?"
McCoy grinned. "He's three hundred years old."
Jim strode quickly and purposely down the corridors of his ship with his first officer following silently behind him. He didn't stop until he reached the holding cell where John Harrison was housed. "Why is there a man in that torpedo?" Jim asked.
John Harrison was sitting on the edge of the cot he had been given, his posture ram rod straight, and his hands resting on both on his thighs. He barely gave Jim a glance as he spoke. "There are men and women in all of those torpedoes Captain, I put them there."
Jim stepped closer to the barrier. "Why in God's name would you do that? Who is the hell are you?"
John looked up at Jim and regarded him a moment. His eyes narrowed as he stood and approached the barrier to stand in front of the Captain. "I can smell her on you Captain. I told you that it would not bode well for you to not return what is mine."
"And I told you that you'd never see her again, now answer my damn question. Who are you?" Jim said darkly.
John continued to glare at Jim before taking a few calming breaths, his fists clenching and unclenching by his sides. "I am a remnant of a long time ago. I, as well as my people were genetically engineered to be superior so that we could lead others to peace in a time of war." John swallowed hard, the lump forming in his throat. "But we were condemned as criminals and we were forced into exile. For centuries we slept, hoping that when we awoke things would be different." John turned away from Jim and looked at Spock, stepping towards the Vulcan. "But as a result of the destruction of Vulcan, your Starfleet began to search distant quadrants of the galaxy, my ship was found adrift and I was revived."
"I looked up John Harrison and until a year ago, he didn't exist. What do you have to say about that?" Jim asked him.
"John Harrison was a fiction created for me by the very man who revived me. Your Admiral Marcus wanted my help in creating new weapons and war ships to ready Starfleet for the war that he so desperately wanted. John Harrison is nothing but a smoke screen to conceal my true identity." The man who had called himself John Harrison turned back towards Jim and stepped menacingly towards the barrier. "My name is Khan." He said, the malice he felt towards Jim and Spock clearly evident in his face.
Jim did not even acknowledge the expression on Khan's face. "Okay, your name is Khan. But tell me something Khan, why would a Starfleet Admiral, a decorated war hero and peace keeper need help from a three hundred years old frozen man?"
Khan smiled. "Because I am better."
Jim's face began one of incredulity. "Better, at what exactly?"
"Everything." The man who now called himself Khan said dangerously. "Your Admiral Marcus believed he needed to respond to a coming threat, whether real or imagined in his mind, I don't know. I have often wondered about the man's sanity many times after holding conversations with him. This supposed threat is why he needed me. He needed a warrior's mind to advance his cause."
Spock looked at Khan questioningly. "You are suggesting that the admiral violated every regulation he vowed to uphold in order to exploit your intellect?"
Khan turned to Spock. "He wanted to exploit my savagery Mr. Spock. In time of war intellect alone is useless. There is a need for passion, rawness, and emotion during times of war. Fighting is an emotional response to impassioned stimuli. There is no procedure or rule book. You can't even break a rule how could you be expected to break bone?"
Spock's expression did not change. He continued to look at Khan impassively. Khan smiled knowingly. "But you can be impassioned can you not Mr. Spock? After all you Vulcan's have quite the history of savagery and primitiveness in ancient times. I wonder what it would take for you to let go of that tightly held sense of order and logic that you have."
Khan stepped closer to Spock. "What would it take Mr. Spock for you to become impassioned? Perhaps the lovely communications officer, the one who resembles a Nubian princess?"
"Spock…" Jim warned quietly and it was enough to keep Spock from openly responding. Khan however had already seen the barest hint of a reaction from the Vulcan when the vein on Spock's neck pulsed.
Khan chuckled and favored Spock with a triumphant smile.
"Enough of this bull shit Khan. You expect me to believe that Admiral Marcus…"
Khan cut him off. "Marcus used me to help design weapons in order to realize his vision of a heavy militarized Starfleet."
Jim shook his head in disbelief. "To what end?"
Khan frowned. "How naive you are Captain. He sent you to use those weapons, to use the torpedoes. He wanted you to fire MY torpedoes at an unsuspecting world and the he crippled your ship in enemy space which of course would lead to one outcome."
"And what is that?" Jim asked still not convinced.
"The Klingons would come looking for whoever had fired upon them and their home world and you would have no chance of escape. The Klingons would destroy you giving Marcus an excuse to have the war that he always talked about and wanted."
Jim began to pace agitatedly. "No, you are a liar and a murderer. I watched you attack and murder innocent men and women, unarmed innocent men and women and you…"
"I did what I had to do!" Khan roared, allowing the raw pain of what he felt inside to momentarily take control. "Marcus took my people from me! He used my friends, my people, my Family to control and manipulate me. I tried to smuggle them to safety by hiding them in the torpedoes that I had designed for his maniacal cause, but I was discovered and I had to escape alone. I had no choice but to leave them Captain."
Khan turned abruptly and walked to the back of the holding cell. It was several minutes before he spoke again and when he did, his voice cracked with emotion. "I knew that Marcus would destroy them, murder them, leaving me utterly alone in this world. And then you come here and threaten me with 72 torpedoes and I discover that my crew is not dead. Why do you think I surrendered to you? Do you think I would let my family die when I am so close to being reunited with them? You call me a murderer and I am, but my actions were taken from emotion, not cold logic." He turned and looked at Jim. "My crew is my family Kirk, they are the people that I hold most dear in the world. Is there not anything you would do for your family?"
Jim noticed that although there were no tears in Khan's eyes now, the moisture still lingered on his cheek. Before he could respond to Khan, Sulu spoke over the brig's speaker.
Sir, there is a ship at warp heading right at us. It will be here in a matter of minutes.
"Klingons?" Jim asked glancing at Spock.
No sir, it's not coming at us from Kronos.
"I'm on my way Sulu. Lieutenant, move Khan to sick bay and put six officers on him." Jim turned to leave.
"If you do not return her to me, I will be forced to take her and that will be most unpleasant for you." Khan called after him.
"Yeah well good luck with that." Jim called back to him, not even breaking a stride.
Jim and Spock entered the bridge taking their appropriate stations. "Mr. Sulu ETA." The young Captain barked.
"Three seconds, sir." Sulu responded.
"Shields." Jim said stiffly.
The massive black ship slammed out of warp right in front of the Enterprise. It looked darkly and ominously over them. Weapons jutted out visibly from every vantage point possible on the ship. It dwarfed the Enterprise and the ship itself seemed to have built by sheer malice.
"They are hailing us, sir." Nyota said nervously.
Jim nodded. "On screen and broadcast ship wide for the record."
On the forward screen there appeared a figure that seemed to surprise Jim Kirk. The Enterprise crew couldn't ascertain if their Captain was relieved or concerned.
"Admiral Marcus, I wasn't expecting to see you sir." Jim said with a tone that was not readily identifiable to those listening.
"And I wasn't expecting to get word that you had taken Harrison alive. I believe your orders were to take him out." The Admiral said. "So what happened son?
For some reason unknown to Jim, the term of endearment that the Admiral used made his flesh crawl. Jim forced the emotion away and leaned forward slightly in his captain's chair. "Unfortunately we experienced a warp core malfunction. But I guess you already knew that."
"Excuse me son?" Admiral Marcus said with a twinge of anger laced in his voice. "I don't believe that I take your meaning?"
"Oh I had just assumed that you were here to help us with the repairs. I mean why else would you be here?" Jim smiled slightly. "Sir."
"Captain they are scanning our ship." Sulu said.
Jim sat back and gave the air of confidence although that was the exact opposite of what he felt. "Is there something I can help you find?"
"Where is your prisoner son? I don't have time for games." Marcus huffed impatiently.
"Oh you mean Khan? We moved him to engineering sir." Jim responded noting the tightness in the Admiral's face at his use of Khan's true name.
"Shit, I was hoping that you wouldn't have much conversation with him. Had you obeyed orders, you wouldn't have. So let me guess, did he tell you that he was a peace keeper? Wrongly condemned to death? He's a liar Kirk and he is playing you son, playing your emotions. Did you forget what he did to Admiral Pike, the man who not only believed in you and stood up to bat for you, but treated you as if you were his own son? Did you forget that Pike is lying unconscious in a hospital bed and God only knows if he'll ever come to himself all because of the man that you are housing on your ship?" Marcus said with a false sincerity that Jim could see, even through the emotion that the Admiral had stirred within him.
"Look sir, I'm bringing Khan back to earth so that he can face justice for what he did and…."
Marcus cut him off. "I made a mistake. I took a tactical error and I woke that psychotic bastard up, thinking his superior intellect could help protect us from whatever is coming at us next. And instead, he escaped, destroyed a building that could have killed hundreds and then attacked a room full of unarmed people, killing three of them and severely wounding the rest. I want to make this right. Give him to me, son."
Jim studied Marcus for a moment. "And what would you have me to with his crew? You remember them don't you sir? His loved ones that you dangled in front of his face? Would you have me fire them at the Klingons and end seventy two lives? You want me to become a murderer not to mention start a war? I'm sorry sir, but I can't do that. I can't kill seventy two defenseless people regardless of what Khan may or may not have done or just because you happen to think that war with the Klingons in inevitable."
Marcus growled in irritation."He put those people in those torpedoes. I told him that once he was done with his work that I would let his people go and they could ride off in the sunset for all I care. And do you even know who this man really is? He's a war criminal! He's nothing more than a tyrant, son! He and his people were condemned to death for their crimes against humanity. Good God, you saw what he could do by himself, could you imagine what would happen if his whole crew were awakened? What did he tell you that he was a peacekeeper? He's playing you Kirk! Why can't you see that? Surely you're not that naive, son."
"Sir, you misused Khan and his crew, you left him no other choice but too…"
"I just told you that he and his crew are condemned war criminals! I thought that I could use him to help prepare us for times of war and I was wrong, so wrong. I had no idea what I was getting into when I woke that bastard up. And now I am trying to make this right and I am asking you to help me to make this right. We have a responsibility to carry out that original sentence."
Jim nodded. "Alright sir, he's in engineering. I'll have him moved to the transporter room."
Marcus sat back relieved and sighed. "Thank you son, I'll take it from here."
Marcus disappeared from the screen and Jim stood instantly. "Do not drop those shields."
"Yes sir. "Sulu said.
Jim pressed his comm pick up. "Mr. Chekov, can we warp?"
Technically yes, but I would not advise it sir.
"Noted Mr. Chekov." Jim released the comm and looked at Sulu. "Set course for Earth and get us the hell out of here."
The door to the sick bay slid open. Khan did not bother to raise his head to see who had entered, he didn't care who had entered. His thoughts were consumed with how close he was to his arch enemy. Manipulating Kirk had been so easy and soon, he would be face to face with Marcus once more. The sweet taste of vengeance was on the tip of his tongue.
Suddenly, he was overcome with familiar scent that seemed to float in the air. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply and his mouth watered. His eyes snapped open and there she stood at the opposite end of the room speaking rapidly with Dr. McCoy while a young nurse who looked little more than a child stood looking on with frightened eyes.
"Carol I know that your doctorate is not in medicine, but I need more blood drawn while I finish these tests and Willis is scared to death of him, won't go near him." McCoy pleaded.
Carol could feel Khan's eyes on her and she was fairly certain that he could hear what they were saying, even as far as way as they were. If he was the super human that Dr. McCoy suspected he was, then he certainly would have superior senses.
Carol could feel herself tremble at the thought of being that close to him, but as she looked down at the frightened nurse, whose hands trembled even worse and she felt she couldn't force the girl to do something that distressed her so. "Alright Leonard." She said softly, taking the hypo from the nurse.
McCoy grunted his thanks and turned his attention back to his slides while the young nurse stood quietly and thankfully to the side.
Carol walked towards Khan, the hypo's in her hands held in such a tight grip that her knuckles were white. She stopped in front of him not even looking at him and spoke. "Lift your arm." She said in a tone that resembled a command. To her surprise, he lifted both his arms, as they were cuffed together at the wrists. She pulled his sleeve back rather roughly and rammed the hypo into his arm. The device filled with blood quickly.
"Four Leonard?" She called over her shoulder.
"Yep." The doctor answered with his usual southern drawl.
She turned back to her task and started to push the other hypo into his arm when she was grasped by the wrist and jerked forward. "Look at me Carol." He said softly.
She attempted to free herself from his grasp, which she knew was foolish, but it was more an instinctual move that a logical one. She tugged again and his grip tightened.
"Let go of me. In case you didn't notice, this med bay is full of officers…"
"Which I could take down in the blink of an eye. The only reason why I am sitting here like this is to provide your young Captain with a sense of security." Khan said, his warm breathing brushing her cheek. He pulled her even closer. "If I were you, I would not call anyone's attention to the fact that I have you as it would not end well for that person. I would suggest you pretend that you are drawing my blood and nothing more."
Carol could feel the tears stinging her eyes as she forced herself to look at him. For a moment, she saw gentleness and what looked like sorrow in his eyes before his expression became guarded.
"You reek of him." Khan said to her. "Kirk, I smell his all over you. He held you in his arms."
She didn't know why, but she nodded. She didn't owe this man any explanation for any of her actions, but she could not stop herself. It was as if her body was on automatic pilot.
"Why did he hold you?" Khan pressed.
"He was comforting me." Carol said softly. "I was crying and he comforted me."
"Why were you crying?" He asked her gently.
"I have three more hypos to fill Khan…" She sneered his name as if it left a bad taste in her mouth. Surprisingly enough, he released her.
She stepped back and took his arm again. Before she could press the hypo into his arm, he grabbed her wrist again. He pulled her closer to him, lifting her arm so that he could inspect her arm more closely. The left sleeve of her shirt had been worked up her arm. Khan could see the irritated skin, the small scratches and redness on her normally flawless pale flesh. He raised his head sharply and looked into her eyes.
Her eyes were hard and glistening with unshed tears. His eyes roamed over her face and her neck. He stopped when he saw the bandage over where he had marked her. There was fresh blood oozing onto the bandage and he could see the same irritated red marks on the skin around her neck and the wound.
"You did this to yourself? Why?" He asked with an inflection in his voice that Carol refused to allow herself to accept was genuine.
"As I told Mr. Spock, I like hot showers. Nothing like a scalding hot shower and a good scrub to wash away the dirt and filth." She said harshly.
"Carol, I…"
"And you know what was so fucking hilarious?" She asked him, her voice taking on a hysterical tone. "It didn't matter how hard I scrubbed, how much soap I used, how much of my skin I tried to peel away, I still couldn't get clean. I still couldn't get you off me. And I think that I will always be dirty, filthy, disgusting…" She stopped as abruptly when her voice cracked.
He started to speak, but she rammed the hypo into his arm. He let her finish with the last two hypos. She turned to set the hypos aside before looking at him once again. Her face was hard and cold. Gone was the brightness, the warmth, the gentleness that he had seen so many times before. She seemed almost a shell of what she was before.
His breath caught in his throat as his words came back to haunt him. I will destroy her, shatter her, and leave her as nothing but a shell of what she was before.
He watched as she slowly wiped one hot tear that rolled down her cheek from her face as she stared at him with her dull eyes.
He reached out and took hold of her wrist and pulled her towards him. "You will never hurt yourself again, do you understand? I will not allow it."
Khan's head did not budge when her open palm made contact with his face. The slap resounded loudly in the med bay, so much so that everyone stopped talking and moving and looked at the both of them.
"Get your hands off her!" One of the officers snapped charging forward. The officer grabbed Carol's arm and Khan allowed him to pull her away. Carol glared daggers at Khan as the officer took hold of both her arms gently and steered her away from the prisoner. She kept her head turned back so she could stare at him, bitter and angry tears now spilling freely like waterfalls down her cheeks.
Khan slowly raised his hand to his cheek. He could feel the heat of her hand print, but barely registered anything else as he watched her being moved away from him.
McCoy hurried over, collecting the hypos, handing them to his nurse, and shooing her away gently before she fainted from being too close to Khan.
McCoy cleared his throat. "Well, I don't know what the hell that was all about and I don't care, but it better stop now." He began to wave the vital reader over Khan. McCoy looked up when he felt this ship jump into warp."At least we're moving."
Khan looked pointedly at McCoy. "If you think you're safe…" He paused, his shrewd gaze moving to linger on Carol. "You are mistaken."
Carol's eyes widened at the implications of Khan's words and she remembered how excited her father had been when he told her of a project that he had been working on that would allow a ship to be able to engage in combat while at warp. She turned and bolted from the sick bay. McCoy frowned and watched her go.
"Women…" He said softly shaking his head.
"Indeed." Khan responded softly as he watched Carol disappear.
Carol charged onto the bridge without waiting for permission and ran to Jim. "He's going to catch up to us!" She said.
"What? Who, you're father?"
"Yes Jim, he will and he will be firing everything he has at this ship. He will destroy us if you do not let me speak with him."
"Carol, that's impossible. He can't…"
"No it's not Jim. My father has been working on a way to be able to engage in combat at warp. I believe that his project was a success and I am telling you that he will attack this ship. Let me…." Her words were cut short when the Enterprise was hit violently from behind. Jim grabbed Carol, tucking her against him as they both hit the floor.
The Enterprise was hit again and Kirk could hear the screams of his crew as various parts of his ship were torn to shreds by the oncoming blasts. The Enterprise was hit once more and was knocked violently out of Warp, spinning, it was torn from the nebula and shot out into space. The ship had just barely come to a stop when it was hit again. More screams and more destruction tore through Jim's ears and consequently his heart. The Captain pulled himself up. "Sulu, damages?"
All at once the crew of the bridge began firing damage reports at him in anxiety and fear laden voices. Only the voice of his first officer was calm and steady. "Captain, Admiral Marcus clearly has the advantage here. His ship contains advanced warp capabilities and weapons. We are no more than twenty thousand kilometers from Earth but we have no chance of making it there sir."
Jim Kirk did not and never had believed in no win scenarios. He ignored Spock's foreboding. "Evasive maneuvers get us to earth now Sulu!"
"I'm trying sir." Sulu said desperately.
Another burst of fire from the enormous black ship ripped through the Enterprise, tearing another floor into and killing more of Kirk's crew.
"Stop Jim!" Carol cried, grabbing his by the shoulders. "This is a no win scenario Jim, do you understand? There is nothing you can do. You can't save us and we will all die if you do not let me talk to my father."
Jim swallowed hard, nodding at Uhura to open the channel. Carol turned towards the huge screen and spoke. "Dad…sir…please it's me, it's Carol."
The firing instantly stopped and the screen fluttered and came into focus. Admiral Marcus sat leaning forward in his captain's chair with a look of extreme displeasure on his face. "What in the hell are you doing on that ship?" He snapped staring at her as if she were still a small child and had done something terribly naughty.
Carol could feel her nerve began to fail her. She cleared her throat and stepped forward to speak to the man that had raised her and who she had not seen or spoken to in almost four months.
"I…dad, I heard everything that you said, about the Klingons and Khan. I know that you feel as if you have made a terrible mistake and that you are trying to make it right. But dad, you…you took his people from him, you took everything from him and you're angry with how he responded. And now, you are attacking a ship full of innocent people and I just don't understand for what? So that you can get your revenge on a man that you've wronged and start a war with a race of sentient beings that you consider a threat and that you don't understand?"
Her father sighed deeply. "Carol, in times of war sacrifices must be made. There is way more to this than you know and you just don't understand."
"I understand that you are threatening to destroy this ship and its crew. They are innocent dad. How could you even contemplate such a thing? What happened to the man who raised me? The man who was so full of kindness and gentleness, where is he? Where is the man who taught me that I could be anything that I wished to be, that no dream was too big or unattainable? Where is the man that had a heart so full of compassion and love that he chose to enlist in Starfleet just so he could offer his protection and compassion to those that needed it most?" Carol's voice was thick with emotion as she was crying heavily.
"Carol, I am sorry, but I do not have time to discuss this with you right now."
She nodded, resigning herself to her fate. "If that is your decision sir, then you will have to destroy this ship full of innocent lives with me on board."
Marcus sighed and sat back in his chair. "No Carol, I won't."
"Oh!" Carol cried as she could feel the beginnings of the yellowish beams that would in seconds surround her and remove her from the Enterprise. She turned desperately looking at Jim. "Jim, please…don't let him take me."
"Can we intercept their signal?" Jim asked hurriedly.
"No sir, we are just too damaged right now." Sulu responded with sorrow in his voice for Carol.
Carol didn't know what else to do so she ran towards the turbo lift, hoping that her father would lose her signal, but she was enveloped in yellow beams and disappeared.
Jim was still staring at where carol had disappeared from when Marcus's voice broke over the bridge.
"Captain James T. Kirk, without authorization and in league with the fugitive known as John Harrison, you and your crew went rogue in enemy territory, leaving me no choice but to hunt you and destroy you." He turned his head and called behind him. "Lock phasers."
Those words pulled Jim from his internal reverie and he turned back to Marcus. "Wait, sir!"
"Son, I'm going to make this quick. I know that you are a good man and a hell of a captain. I know that you believe that you are doing the right thing, but there are just some things that you do not understand. You are leaving me no choice here. I have to protect our way of life." Marcus called behind him again. "Target all aft torpedoes on the bridge."
"Wait please, Admiral. I take full responsibility for my actions. They were my actions, mine and mine alone. I'll do anything you want, but don't kill my crew. Don't take this out on my…"Jim stopped as his throat tightened with a sense of tremendous loss and deja vu. He could hear Khan's voice in his head…Is there anything you would not do for your family Kirk?
Suddenly Khan made a little more sense to Jim, but he could not think on that now. He looked back at Marcus, his eyes pleading. "Just take me sir. I'll destroy the ships record of this and you can try me with Khan as a traitor."
Marcus frowned and looked almost sorrowful. "That is a hell of an apology Kirk. But it still won't do. I am sorry son, but I can't let your crew live and I never had any intention of letting them live. There is too much at stake. War with the Klingons is coming son, our very way of life is in danger and millions of lives along with it. I have tried for years to get my fellow officers to see this, but they are blinded by regulation and proper channels. The sacrifice of you and your crew is a necessary one for the greater good. And as I said, this will be quick, no one is going to suffer and it will be over in the blink of an eye."
Marcus disappeared from the screen. Jim turned and faced his crew. He looked slowly over their faces one by one. Some he knew very well and some he did not due to this being there first mission, a few were barely past adolescence.
"I am sorry." Jim whispered. "I am so very sorry."
"This was not your fault sir and it was an absolute honor and privilege to serve under you." Sulu said approaching Kirk and taking hold of his forearm.
Spock pulled Nyota against him, turning her body to face him, holding her tightly against him so that she would not see their impeding doom.
The entire bridge watched at the weapons of the massive black ship all came alive at once, sparkling with various colors and electrical lines before just as quickly, the weapons went dark and fell limply against the ship. The thick apprehensive silent atmosphere of the Enterpsie was broken when a lone voice patched through to the comm.
"Uh…hello? Enterprise, can you hear me?"
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