Star Trek: Phase One
The Human Factor
Although the actual beaming only took five seconds to complete, in Jim Kirk's mind it was as if he had found eternity. Could a man's soul record the passage of time while disassembled Or, in those few seconds when one's mind is between existence, and outside reality, that we can exist as something else? Could the transporter beam actually takes us back to the time before we were human, angelic even, if there was such an existence?
Kirk opened his eyes and just as he did he heard a voice in his mind whisper one word: Edith…
Kirk forced himself to open his eyes. He was on a cold slab of pavement. He struggled to stand up and, luckily, found a row of clothing, including jackets that he had seen on many of the people earlier on the prompters. He put one on for disguise. The risk was very apparent. He had seven minutes to find his son and if anyone recognized him, it would cause a ruckus. He slid the jacket on and put on a baseball cap that had fallen off the myriad racks of clothing in the room.
It was pure luck that Kirk hadn't materialized inside one of the walls and died instantly. Luckily the experimental transporter had the ability to detect such 'obstacles' and Daystrom found the closest non-obstructed place to put Kirk.
As Kirk entered the large conference room and became just one of the large throng, he had no feeling of guilt. He was there to rescue his son, and that's it. Had he been just an observer able to step back and look at events as they were happening, he may have labeled himself as a self-serving man who was comprised of single thoughts. But that's what someone becomes when they are attempting to save a life more precious than their own.
The lights inside the conference were actually slightly dimmed. This made it easier for Kirk to blend in with the crowd, pretending to be one of them, as he made his way. He looked around to try and orientate himself as to where he was. Then he recognized some of the background he had seen on the prompter earlier. He then started to make his way towards the area he had seen David.
It was almost as if he were walking through a ghost yard. All these people, in less than five minutes, would be dead. He saw men and women and children as he made his way. Some of them looked depressed. Some of them were drinking it up because they knew they didn't have long to live. But one thing it was; it was loud.
Kirk passed several parents holding their kids. The look on some of the children faces revealed that they had no idea what was about to happen to them. Maybe it was best that way, Kirk decided. Their eyes held the wonder of a child, with all that life ahead of them but then, like a twisted joke, it was as bitter as life could be. Kirk wished he could save them all, but he couldn't. He wished he could reach down, pick up the little three year old girl who he had just walked past. She was wearing a nice dress and was holding her teddy-bear and Kirk wished he could save her; just bring her with him, so that she could live out her life. But the humanity inside of him, the part that propels us to save our children above all others, took over and he walked right past her.
United Space Agency Headquarters on Archer Island
Colonel Pike watched as the main screen showed the large amount of people where were about to die. Gill's voice could be heard.
"You have done this," Gill said in an accusatory voice. "The USS Lexington was supposed to be cataloging the asteroid. Perhaps they were the ones who changed the course of the fragment and sent it at us."
"No, that is not what happened," Pike replied through his side of the connections. All over the world, as the event happened, those who were watching could also hear the exchanges between Gill and Pike. These images were unfiltered…anyone could see them.
Suddenly, just to the lower left from where Pike stood, one of the officers manning a tactical post looked up to Pike. Pike silenced his microphone.
"What is it Lieutenant?" Colonel Pike asked.
"Sir," the younger man replied, "We are detecting a launch of some kind on that island."
"Put it on the screen," Pike replied.
The image was being captured, real time, from an orbiting satellite. A large vessel, nearly an exact duplicate to the Constellation class starship, rose from a specially made launch platform.
"Could something that large survive going through the atmosphere?" Pike asked.
"It's feasible," one of the science officers said.
"What you are no doubt seeing," Gill's voice said finally, "is the launch of the Botany Bay. It is comprised of a crew that was selected at random. They will be the flag carriers of our cause."
"You should be on that ship, Senator." Pike said.
"We don't operate like that," Gill said as his image came back on the screen. "My life is but one. This brave crew will explore space and…"
Suddenly the Botany Bay exploded.
"How could you!" Gill yelled into the mic.
The Island Lair of John Gill
As the crowd in the conference room gasped at the sight of the televised explosion of the Botany Bay and the sudden death to those aboard her, Kirk made his way slowly through the crowd. And then, he saw him - baby David. He was in the arms of the stranger with long gray hair. And then Tom Garak looked Kirk's way.
At first Garak discounted the stranger coming towards him. At first Garak thought it was just another one of the crowd. But then Garak recognized James T. Kirk. Garak turned away from Kirk and stepped up onto the stage that over looked the gathered crowed of nearly a thousand or more. Kirk chased after him and was on the stage as well. With his other free hand, Garak grabbed a microphone and turned it on.
"Everyone," Garak yelled. "Look who we have before us! Don't come any closer Kirk!" Garak yelled as he held the baby closer, and in a threatening motion.
The loud sounds of the crowd subsided as Kirk and Garak stood on the stage.
All over the world, as well as at Starfleet Command as well, people could see two men on some sort of stage. One of them was holding what appeared to be a baby, and the other was someone that most of world knew. It was none other than Captain James T. Kirk.
United Space Agency Headquarters on Archer Island
"How did he get there?" Pike whispered softly. Then Pike remembered the memos he had seen about an experimental transport system Daystrom had been working. But that device was very top-secret. He put two and two together.
Gill's Lair
"Give me the baby," Kirk pleaded for all to hear.
"How did you get here?" Garak countered.
Kirk looked at a wall mounted digital clock on the wall behind where Garak stood. There were only two minutes left.
"I was teleported here by a top-secret device," Kirk said honestly, in a soft voice. "Only one person can return with me. I'm sorry."
The crowd started shouting angrily at Kirk, some even began to come up onto the stage to confront Kirk. They held what appear to be makeshift weapons; a few even had clubs or baseball bat.
"No, Kirk," Garak said with an angry look on his face. "You don't get to win this time. This time Superman loses!"
Garak held the baby, David, out toward Kirk. But then Garak threw the baby down to the crowd below. Kirk tried to catch his son, but landed on the hard wood stage with a loud thud. He could only watch helplessly, as the crowd caught the innocent child and began to commit violent acts on the defenseless child. The billions of people who watched all over the world could only stare in terror as the mob mentality took over and caused civilized humans to do such horrible acts. The increasingly bloodied clubs splattered the remains of David everywhere as the mob rushed Kirk, to kill him as well, but then Kirk shimmered out of existence. His last memory of David was watching his son be nothing more than a piñata at the demented pleasure of those who faced impending death.
And that mass death came as the asteroid remnant struck the island, killing all those on it instantly.
United Space Agency Headquarters on Archer Island
Kirk rematerialized on the transporter pad. He was lying on the on the ground, but now in the sterile compounds of the science department at Starfleet Command. He stared blankly ahead, a lone tear coming from his eyes.
"No…no.." he whispered silently, reaching for the son he would never hold again.
Over by the transporter machine, Gary Mitchell and Richard Daystrom could only watch in silence as Kirk remained on the transporter pad; consumed by his lost.
Gary also felt the pang of guilt build inside of him like none other he had ever felt before. And the anger began to build inside of him as well. He had reached out with his mind and had destroyed the Botany Bay. But that act was not sufficient enough. Gary would hunt down Khan until his dying days if necessary.
"I feel sorry for Kirk," Daystrom said softly to Gary. "He will never father another child again. I didn't either after my daughter died."
"He's strong," Gary countered with his own whisper.
The two men walked over to where Kirk was and helped him off the ground.
"I'm so sorry Jim," Gary said to Kirk as he hugged his friend. Tears also came down from Gary's eyes. He had killed Jim's son, and the only one who knew the truth was a mad man named Khan. But since Khan would not be getting the Botany Bay, Gary knew exactly where he was; on Mars.
Gary thought about telling Kirk everything. How he, Gary, had evolved to a new form of humanity with powers beyond compare. He wanted to tell Kirk how he had unwittingly set the fragment on its way to destroy Gill, only to destroy Kirk's son as well. Gary knew that if he didn't tell Kirk, Khan would most certainly find a way to tell him instead.
But, in the end, Gary decided the best way to hide the truth was to kill anyone who knew of it. Gary was the Captain of the USS Reliant. It was time to convince Colonel Pike to let him return to Mars. It was time to pay khan a second and bloody last visit.
A small grin came over Gary's face.
Mars
Khan watched in silence as the news images repeated the entire sequence of events for the umpteenth time. It showed Kirk's showdown on the conference room stage with Garak. Kirk was pleading with Garak to hand David over to him. And then, as Garak threw the child, the images showed the gruesome attacks on the child. Then the scene went bright as the comet struck, and the signal ended.
"Revenge," Khan said to himself, "is a dish best served cold; Gary Mitchell."
And where Khan was, on Mars, it was definitely cold. Only he survived now, after the warehouse fiasco nearly a year previously. Khan also knew that Gary Mitchell would no doubt act out in revenge as well, and come for him.
But Khan was ready for him. He looked over at the subspace communications device that Gill had given him all those months ago. Khan flipped a switch on it. Another person's face came on the screen.
"It is done," Khan said. "I am quite sure Gary Mitchell will come here to Mars to destroy me for assisting him in killing Kirk's son. It's up to you now."
The person on the screen spoke.
"It is a shame that the universe has conspired in this way against Kirk. It will make him into a warrior, and he will thank you someday. But as for you Khan; do not worry; we will keep up our part of the bargain," the voice said from the prompter. "If this Gary Mitchell is indeed the next step in humanoid evolution, The Romulan Empire must possess him," the voice belonging to Praefectus'alae Gnaeus said.
Khan watched the screen go dark. He thought he had made contact with the Romulans quite by mistake in the past two days while making adjustments to the subspace transmitter. Eventually, and after much discussion, Khan became aware that the Romulans had monitored the conversation between Khan and Mitchell hours earlier.
The Romulans were first not aware that Earth had attained subspace communications and now when they monitored Earth's progression, they also decided to monitor the content of the communications as well.
The Romulans came across Khan/Mitchell's conversation earlier, and then the asteroid fragment altered course, and they became even more interested in the human named Gary Mitchell and began a dialog with Khan.
"How will you keep up your part of the bargain and get me off this planet before he gets here?" Khan asked.
"Do not concern yourself with such matters." Gneaus said in a most calm collected way. "When the time comes we will be ready."
And the screen went dark.
Continued…