CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Madelyn woke to Carol Marcus gently shaking her shoulders. Her first inclination came with a rush of anger. She flung herself at the woman, attempting to hit her across the face or grab her neck. A searing pain ripped through her left arm and she cried out, collapsing breathless back into the bed. Carol pushed her blonde hair from her face with a huff.

"That was stupid, Madelyn. Dr. Dahl broke your arm and you want to attack me with it." She wrapped her arm around Madelyn's shoulders and pulled her shaking body into a sitting position. "My father wants to see you on the bridge. Can you walk?"

She was no longer in restraints, and Dr. Dahl was nowhere to be seen. Her broken arm had been wrapped and placed in a temporary sling. Madelyn stifled her shaky breaths and slowly swung her bare legs to the floor. A bubble of raw fury hovered just below her determination to get out of bed and face Carol. The last thing she wanted was to see Admiral Marcus. She stood warily, leaning on the bed frame for support. The floor was smooth and cold under her bare feet. Carol held out her sterile white med bay clothing. Madelyn gave her a look. "I want my clothes."

Carol lifted her chin, then hurried to retrieve the clothing Madelyn was accustomed to. She came back a moment later and started to hand the pile of neatly folded garments to Madelyn, then stopped as her blue eyes settled on her broken arm. She quickly helped Madelyn dress, returning her to her familiar shirt and pants and worn-in boots. Madelyn's brown hair was falling out of its loose braid but it would have to stay that way.

Madelyn followed Carol to the bridge of the Vengeance, watching the scientist's blonde bob sway back and forth as she walked. Her face grew hot with anger. Carol could have disobeyed her orders and stayed with her in the med bay. She could have stopped Dr. Dahl. Instead, Carol had left her at his mercy. She wanted to yank that blonde hair out of Carol's head and twist her neck until it snapped. She wanted to break Carol's bones the way Dr. Dahl had broken hers.

They stepped into the lift, joining a few other crewmembers in silence. Madelyn suddenly realized how disturbing her thoughts were. Their clarity shocked her. She quickly reminded herself that it wasn't Carol who'd transported her to the Vengeance against her will. It wasn't Carol who'd ordered the tests be run on her in the first place. It was Admiral Marcus. Admiral Marcus was responsible for everything that had happened to her so far. It was the Admiral who deserved to be hurt. And Dr. Dahl, the disgusting bastard. She shivered as she recalled the way he'd touched her. He was someone she wouldn't mind hurting, maybe breaking a few of his fingers, or all of them.

She couldn't believe what was going through her mind. She realized she didn't want anyone else to be hurt as they stepped from the lift and continued through the ship's corridors. She wasn't even sure she knew how to snap a neck or break fingers. She didn't want to know how. Enough people had died as a result of both Khan and Admiral Marcus. She pushed her violent fantasies out of her mind. She wanted no part in any bloodshed. But she wanted Dr. Dahl to receive justice. Whatever that would entail, she'd leave to someone who could do the job right.

The Admiral seemed not to notice her broken arm when Madelyn returned to the bridge behind Carol.

"I hope Hans wasn't too rough with you," he chuckled.

"You son of a bitch—"

"Admiral, there's been an unauthorized airlock activation in the main hangar."

Marcus turned to the closest monitor to take a look. "Fuck! It's Khan. Send twenty security personal to detain him." He turned back to Madelyn. "It looks like you're about to have a little family reunion."

Madelyn let a slight smile creep onto her face, hoping to gain an edge over the Admiral. "He's not going to let you take him again." Still, a sliver of fear prodded its way into her stomach. She was as defenseless against Marcus as the Vengeance and its crew was against Khan.

Marcus stood from his seat and paced across the room towards her. Madelyn didn't flinch. She'd been stared down so many times by Khan that dealing with the Admiral's glare was like staring down a temperamental teenager.

"I don't intend to take him, Ms. McGivers. I intend to kill him. I hope that doesn't come as too much of a disappointment."

She looked up at him as seriously as she could manage. He was trying to act so dramatic towards her, it was almost amusing. "Are you going to kill me too?"

The Admiral glanced at his daughter, who was standing beside her. "Not until Dr. Dahl says he doesn't need you anymore. I'm sure his results will be pretty useful for military purposes."

"That's what you wanted me for? To use my body for war?"

"Well, why the hell else do you think the Augments were originally created? They were weapons, and Khan here," he nodded to a monitor nearby, showing Khan, Kirk, and another man running through the ship's corridors, "Khan is the perfect weapon. Well, he was, until he betrayed me and went rogue. But there's a war coming, and somebody is gonna have to lead us. Khan gave me the tools I needed, and now I don't need him anymore."

Madelyn furrowed her brow at how often Marcus mentioned Khan, as if he was trying to make her react and give him an excuse to kill her right there. "You think I still care about him?" She scoffed. "The man I cared about was John Harrison, and apparently John Harrison doesn't exist. I could care less what you do to Khan."

Carol stepped forward suddenly, cutting her father's response short. "What you did to Kirk, the Enterprise, how can you live with yourself, knowing you tried to start a war?"

The Admiral met his daughter's gaze, his face going soft. "It was inevitable, Carol," he said firmly.

She slapped him across the face. Two security officers moved to restrain her. "I am ashamed to be your daughter!"

Madelyn felt a surge of satisfaction race through her at the look on Admiral Marcus' face. She watched him return to the captain's chair, feeling his cheek with one hand. She wanted to walk over and give him her own slap, or maybe a punch, placed just so his jaw would break. Her right hand itched to slam into his bones. She stretched her fingers and clenched them into a fist. All she needed to do was take a couple steps forward.

The door to the bridge slid open and Kirk, Khan, and another man charged in, sending phaser blasts at every crew member. Madelyn ducked behind a console and watched as the entire bridge crew dropped to the floor in seconds, leaving only herself, Carol, and the Admiral.

When the shooting was over, she slowly returned to her feet. She could feel Khan watching her out of the corner of her eye. Kirk was holding Admiral Marcus at gunpoint. Carol stood nearby, exchanging a shocked look with her. Madelyn threw a confused look to Kirk. Why was he working with Khan? He acknowledged her and gave a subtle nod to the man with ginger hair. The man came up behind Khan, aimed his phaser, and Khan collapsed to the floor. Madelyn could finally let out her breath. It was over.

"That's right, and stay down, ya bastard!" The man with the ginger hair and Scottish accent put a foot on an unconscious Khan's back.

"Thank you, Scotty," said Kirk, glancing down at Khan for a moment just to make sure he was down. Then he leaped up to the captain's chair and pushed his phaser into the Alexander Marcus' face.

"Admiral Marcus, you're under arrest."

Marcus' eyes seemed to be laughing at Kirk. "You're not actually gonna do this, are you?"

Kirk ignored him. "Admiral, get out of the chair," he ordered.

The Admiral leaned on one arm of his chair as he stared up at Kirk. "You better stop and think about what you're doing, Kirk. You better think about what you did on Kronos. You made an incursion onto an enemy planet, you killed a Klingon patrol. Even if you got away without a trace, war is coming! And who's gonna lead us? You?!" Marcus raised his voice so that he was roaring. "If I'm not in charge, our entire way of life is decimated!"

Madelyn swallowed as she witnessed this new side of the Admiral.

"You want me off this ship?" said Marcus. "You'll have to kill me first."

Kirk shook his head, remaining firmly planted in front of the Admiral. "I'm not gonna kill you, sir. But I could stun your ass and drag you out of that chair. I'd rather not have to do that in front of your daughter."

Scotty yelped. Madelyn's eyes jumped to the Scotsman as he collapsed to the floor, at Khan's feet. Everything that happened next seemed to be in slow motion.

Khan leaped towards the captain's chair and knocked Kirk aside, slamming his body into the floor. The captain of the Enterprise tumbled down the stairs towards Madelyn, rolling onto the floor in pain. She rushed to help him, but Khan made a threatening step towards her, his blue eyes practically glowing with frenzy. She froze.

He pulled Alexander Marcus from the chair and threw him against the wall. Carol attempted to go to him but Khan grabbed her and pushed her out of his way. She scrambled across the floor, and Madelyn felt a brief respite that that was all Khan would do to her. Then without hesitation, Khan brought his foot down on Carol's leg. There was an audible crack and the Admiral's daughter cried out in agony. Madelyn took back everything she'd thought about hurting Carol Marcus.

Khan moved quickly to the Admiral, punching him in the stomach, then dragging the man's incapacitated body onto a console. He took the Admiral's head between his hands and pressed his furious face in close.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME SLEEP!"

Admiral Alexander Marcus' skull cracked from the pressure Khan exerted. Carol screamed.

Madelyn tore her wide eyes from the blood and gray matter between Khan's hands and darted across the bridge, her good hand shaking as she opened the only door out of the room. She ran down the corridor. She ran until she came to the end of it and then she turned the corner and ran down another corridor, and then another. Her eyes searched the walls frantically, hoping for a sign that there was a way off the ship. She had to find a way off this fucking ship.

She stopped as she came to a four-way intersection of hallways. Her left arm ached in its temporary brace. She could still run, but to where? She was lost on this enormous ship. There were no signs, nothing that indicated the ship's hangar was anywhere nearby. Even if she found the hangar, there was a chance there were no other ships on board, and even if there were, she didn't know the first thing about flying one. But she would send herself out of an airlock before letting Khan put his hands on her.

"Stop."

He was behind her. How had he found her so quickly? She wondered what he would do if she didn't, if she sprinted off. The image of Admiral Marcus' crushed skull flitted through her mind and her stomach churned.

She turned slowly, her eyes falling to his hands hanging at his sides. He'd wiped them clean. She looked up at his face. He stood like a wired explosive, tense and waiting to go off at any moment, but his hair hanging over his eyes made him look like a wild animal. There was still some distance between them. She wanted to run. Her right foot slid backwards, preparing to take the next step.

She barely made it three feet. Khan seized her and slammed her against the wall, his hand sliding around her neck. He was poised to crush her windpipe. She shut her eyes and waited for it. She recalled the incident on Kronos as his thumb pressed into her jugular. He saved me from this once.

Her eyes flew open as he pressed himself against her, holding her firmly to the wall. With his hand still wrapped around her neck, his lips drifted over her forehead, her eyes, her lips, her cheek, his breath like fire on her skin. She blinked away the tears that accumulated in her eyes with the expectance that he would kill her right there.

"There's nowhere you can go," he uttered into her ear.

"You murdered John Harrison," she replied, her voice shaking.

He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth. "John Harrison never existed."

She shivered as his fingers slid from her neck, grazing over her exposed clavicle and hovering over her broken arm. She'd just watched those same hands crush another human being's skull. He showed no signs of doing her harm now, but inside, Madelyn was screaming.

Somewhere in the distance there was a huge explosion. The sudden force shook the ship, throwing them both to the floor. She cried out as her broken arm took the brunt of her fall but his strong hand pulled her up. She whirled to see him charging down the corridor, leaving her there alone.

The ship shook violently. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she scrambled against the wall to brace herself. Her good hand felt her neck. She would have bruises there again.

The floor tilted, as though the ship was falling out of control. Madelyn could hear the vessel's massive metal frame creaking. The ship's sudden movement threw her across the smooth floor. She grabbed frantically for something to hold onto and succeeded in catching a protrusion of steel out of the wall, shaken loose by the force of the explosions. She wedged her feet into a crevice and adjusted her fingers around the bar, knowing if her single hand let go, she would be tossed around the corridor like a ragdoll.

The ship must have been crashing. It shook so violently, she shut her eyes. She felt the vibrations through her hand and her feet; it was as though the ship was breaking apart. The noise and the shaking seemed to last for hours. Then suddenly there was a great cacophony of metal scraping against metal.

Madelyn was thrown from her position wedged between the floor and the wall. Her hand slipped and she tumbled down the corridor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of metal ripping through the wall. She scraped at the floor with her fingers, trying to stop herself.

As the ship ground to a halt, she flew backwards off the floor and crashed into the wall. The air was forced from her lungs and fireworks danced in her vision. Something in her back throbbed like she'd been stuck with a knife. She could hear metal creaking in the distance. After a moment of coughing and gagging painfully, she could see and hear and breathe more easily. She swallowed, the metallic taste of blood on her tongue. As he tried to free her broken arm with her good arm, her hand brushed her shirt. It was wet and warm. She glanced down to see a sharp tip of metal protruding from her skin just below her ribcage, and a red stain soaking through her clothing.