STAR TREK: Phase One
Pressure Points
Earth: San Diego.
Thomas Garak hated this part of his job. Using leverage to make people he didn't even know do things that others wanted of them was not a pleasant job, most of the time. As he strolled up to the apartment complex that Carol Marcus lived at, he wished there was another way to what he was about to do; but there wasn't. He didn't like separating children from their parents, but he was being paid a handsome amount of credits to do just that.
Garak swept back his long mane of gray hair and entered the apartment complex and found the nearest elevator. As he stepped in the elevator, he thought about what he had come to do, and it didn't make him proud.
The mother of the baby, Dr. Carol Marcus, would be a push over, especially after Garak used his leverage on her. The father of the baby, Captain James T Kirk of the USS Enterprise, was far off in space, and was of no threat to Garak; for now at least. And with the child soon to be in the possession of John Gill, Garak was sure that Kirk would never be a problem at all.
It was a cruel world, Garak thought to himself, finding ways to justify his actions. He was just a cog in the wheel, and did what he could in order to survive. And who could tell the future? Perhaps, one day, Kirk would have leverage on Gill so as to get his son back, which if paid well, Garak would handle for Kirk. But, for now, Gill had the power; and that power is what employed Garak.
Carol Marcus looked down on David, her baby, as she dressed him in a very comfortable outfit with a SUPERMAN "S" on the front side. She could definitely see Jim's looks on the baby. They shared the same eyes and nose, while David's mouth looked like hers. Sometimes she had second thoughts about asking Jim to stay out of their lives. But she was more afraid of raising a child with a father who would always be away on missions deep in space.
Her own father had been in the Air Force, and she remembered the solitary life her mother had lived. It was not the kind of family life that Carol wanted to raise David in. James could have fought her for custody, but he didn't. She respected James Kirk for that, and knew that deep inside, he knew she was right.
Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. She lifted little David and brought him with her over to the door. She peered through the spy hole and saw a man standing there. He looked pleasant, and quite elegant, with long straight gray hair streaming down his back. He wore a very expensive suit. He activated the com-unit that was part of the door's standard equipment.
"Can I help you?" Carol asked from her side of the door.
"Hello there," Garak said, "my name is Garak. And if you would be so kind to open your door, I have some very important information that may pertain to the life of your child."
Carol opened the door. "What do you mean?"
"May I?" Garak asked, reaching for the door knob.
"Yes, please come in," Carol said.
She opened the door and Garak walked in. He was amazed at how clean and maintained the apartment was. The apartment was quite expensive, and had a terrific view of the ocean. Garak looked out the window at the myriad of surfers who were doing their thing on the ocean shore below.
"You have quite an extraordinary place here, Miss Marcus," Garak said with a nice warm smile. "I envy you."
"Thank you," she said as she, and little David, looked at the visitor. "Now, I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"
"My name is Tom Garak," he replied. "You can simply call me Garak; plain and simple Garak."
"Great," Carol said as she turned to the kitchen. "I just made some fresh orange juice, would you like some?" Carol asked.
"Yes," Garak said as he sat down in the comfortable couch. "That would be very nice of you."
She brought over two glasses, one for him, and one for her. She set little David down in the crib near the couch. The baby had drifted off asleep.
"Now," Carol said, "how can I help you?"
This was the part of the conversation that Garak truly despised. At this point everything was pleasant, and quite friendly. He genuinely liked Carol Marcus, and under different circumstances, he would just enjoy the glass of orange juice and engaged in idle chatter about anything. But, unfortunately, that would not be the case.
Garak reached into his suit jacket and took out an envelope. He opened it and took out several legal forms.
"What are those?" Carol asked.
Garak read over them, making sure they were complete. Satisfied that they were, he looked over to her and smiled.
"These forms are for a Death Certificate, Miss Marcus. Luckily I have a friend who works for the state," Garak said, "and so I was able to obtain them quite easily. I have already filled out the first three pages, all I need for you to do is to sign the signature slot on page four, and initial the highlighted areas on pages one and two."
Carol shook her head. "I'm so sorry Mr. Garak, but I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know of anyone who has died recently."
"Oh my," Garak said as he sipped on his glass of juice, "I'm sorry for the confusion. You see, the person isn't dead."
"Now I'm really confused." She said. "What's going on here?"
Garak smiled at her, and then continued.
"The Death Certificate is for your child," Garak said motioning to the crib. And then the smile on Garak's face was gone, replaced by cold stare. "And you will sign the paperwork, Miss Marcus."
"Get out of my home!" Carol said, trembling with fear. "I'm not signing anything."
She attempted to stand up, but Garak reached out and stopped her, forcing her back down on the couch.
"Before you do anything rash," Garak told her, "I suggest you listen to what I have to say. Once that is done, I am quite certain you will sign the form."
Carol knew, at the present moment, she had no choice but to listen, if only to save her child. She nodded in agreement.
"I have a story to tell you," Garak said, as he sat back in the couch, sipping on the glass of juice as he did. "It is a story that doesn't quite have a happy ending. And," he added with his warm smile, "You're the most important part of the story."
Three hours later Garak sat inside a private jet speeding over the Pacific Ocean, on his way to Australia. He stared out the window at the darkened ocean below, and then he looked back at the seat next to him. Young David Marcus was fastened safely inside his travel seat, and was fast asleep.
MARS...
Gary Mitchell piloted the shuttle down through the turbulence of the Martian atmosphere. Captain Terrell and Lt. Nadya Chekov had yet to report their status, since coming down to the planet earlier. First officer Mitchell, fearing trouble had been found by the Captain and Chekov, mounted up a rescue party of four Marines and headed down to the colony to find them. The raging sandstorm made it nearly impossible for Mitchell to pilot the shuttle, but his years of training had paid off.
As the shuttle descended through the whirling sand, Gary Mitchell could finally see the other shuttle. It had been parked on the tarmac, and all seemed normal enough. In the distance he could also see the four warehouses that were there the last time had been to Mars, which had been nearly a year before.
Gary set the shuttle down on the tarmac, right next to the Captain's shuttle.
He shook the image of a dead baby's body from his mind, and then, for a moment, Gary closed his eyes, and then opened them. There was a strange pull inside of Gary's soul, and it was a force that was pointing him in the direction of the warehouse, which was just up the path, a hundred yards or so from the shuttle. The thick blowing sand made it seem further away, but also gave the warehouse a haunting appearance. Gary tried to shake the strange feeling, the strange flow of power that he could flow through his body, but he couldn't.
For over a year Gary knew that something was happening inside of his existence. He didn't like what he was becoming, and knew it would mean danger someday. But there was nothing else he could do for now but live. He turned to one of the four Marines.
"You stay here and guard the shuttle," Gary ordered.
"Sir?" the Marine, who was named Curtis Donovan replied. "But shouldn't I come with you and the others."
"Sir, we are trained for this," Sgt. Drayton Rounds said. Rounds was the highest ranking of the Marines. "You should stay here Commander Mitchell, we can handle this," Rounds added.
Gary shook his head. "No," Gary countered. "If Captain Terrell has been compromised, then I need to know right away. Just to follow protocol, Donovan will stay here." Gary said, knowing it was just a lie.
It was clear Sgt. Rounds didn't like the decision, but Gary Mitchell out ranked him.
Gary then looked to Rounds and the other two security officers.
"We'll split up," Gary told them. "I'll take the warehouse just ahead of the shuttle, you three go ahead and divvy up which ones you will take."
The three Marines decided which ones to take, and then one by one they each took a phaser rifle from the secured armory. Gary may not have been the best when it came to G-force simulations, but he was one heck of a shot on a target range. But Gary knew, deep inside, he would not need a weapon at all; his mind was more powerful than a mere phaser rifle. And if any harm had come to Chekov, he would kill anyone who was involved, and enjoy doing so.
Inside the warehouse:
Chekov could only watch in sheer terror as two of Khan's men held Captain Terrell down, on his stomach, on one of the tables. Khan held the strange scorpion looking creature with one hand, and then with the other, he slid the teeth of a pair of tweezers he was holding in the other hand inside of what appeared to be the creatures birthing canal.
Terrell tried to shake his head.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Terrell asked. "Men," he said to the two who were holding him down, "I am ordering you to let me go!"
Khan flashed a warm and charming smile.
"Captain, save your breath," Khan said. "These people swore their allegiance to me the moment the United Space Agency abandoned us to these creatures."
"What are you talking about?" Terrell demanded.
Khan gently removed the tweezers from the animals birthing canal, and blood spilled all over the table, some of it splattering on Terrell's face, which was just inches from where the blood landed. A tiny version of the creature was on the tweezers. It emitted some kind of audible cry, no doubt for its mother.
"Let him go!" Chekov demanded finally. She had remained silent through the entire ordeal thus far.
"Oh, I will," Khan said to her with a smirk on his face. "And then I will be doing this to you, Chekov. So, pay attention."
Khan angled the tweezers toward Terrell's head. The men holding down Terrell forcibly held his head down to one side on the table.
"These are pets, I might add," Khan said warmly to Terrell. "They haven't been quite domesticated."
"Please Khan," Chekov pleaded. "We were just following orders. They didn't tell us anything!"
"I don't doubt you," Khan said. "I'm just using these creatures as recruiting tools for my cause."
The Marine who was left behind at the shuttle, Curtis Donavan, sat in the pilot's seat of the shuttle, as ordered by Commander Gary Mitchell. The sandstorm was still howling outside the shuttle. Because of the thickness of the blowing sand he had lost track of the three other security officers, and Commander Gary Mitchell as well.
Sgt. Rounds was by himself, and hunkered down behind a wall that was near one of the warehouses. The sand was howling about, and the various signs that were posted nearby, or were nailed into the side of the building, were making clanking noises. He pulled out a device and pressed a combination of numbers on its small keypad. The device had a small screen and, in seconds, the face of John Gill appeared.
"Have you located Khan?" Gill asked.
"No," Rounds said. "The commander split us up."
"Listen to me, and listen to me well," Gill said. "You are to kill Khan, and I don't care how you do it. It is in the best interests of our plans, and the world as well, that he and his associates from the first landing party do not make it off that world. If you must risk your own life to insure this, then you will. Am I clear?"
Rounds nodded. "Yes sir," Rounds replied. "If he is alive, he won't be much longer."
After setting the adult creature back inside of the aquarium, Khan opened the teeth of the Tweezers. The tiny creature tried in vain to hold on, but eventually it dropped off the tweezers and into the left ear of Captain Terrell. The tiny creature burrowed into the Captain's ear, causing a large amount of blood to squirt out, while also causing Terrell to scream in agony. The two men holding Terrell let the captain fall to the ground. They then turned to Chekov.
"No!" she pleaded as they came over and snatched her up from the ground. "Please Khan," Chekov screamed, "don't do this!"
Khan could only smile. "I really feel for you, Nadya," Khan said, as he admired her strong, taut body.
"What will the creatures do to us?" Chekov asked, trying to delay the inevitable.
He pointed to Terrell, who was on the floor with a blank expression on his face.
"They burrow themselves down into the brain. At first it turned those from my landing party into nothing more than zombies, and they tried to devour us. Eventually, after holding out for as long as we could, they became very susceptible to suggestion, as will you and the Captain." Khan said.
He nodded to the two men and they dragged Chekov over to the table. Chekov screamed as loud as she could. And she watched in horror as the rest of Khan's group just stared and watched.
As before, as the two men held Nadya Chekov down, Khan reached into the aquarium and snatched the creature. He used the Tweezers again to remove one of its young, and then he put the Tweezers over Chekov's head and then let the creature drop down into her ear. She screamed in agony as the creature devoured its way deeper into her ear, blood squirting out.
But as her screams echoed through-out the warehouse she screamed in pain and she saw the door to the warehouse fly open. A person walked in; it was Gary Mitchell! The last thing she remembered was the look of pure evil on Gary's face, and his eyes; they were pure white. She lost conciseness.
Continued…