CHAPTER 37:

After a heavenly hot shower, a shave, a fresh uniform, and a meal that would have Bones demand an instant physical, Kirk was ready to get to the finish line of their current predicament. It was a rare thing to have a respite in the middle of a conflict, and he wasn't about to squander it. If he was going to follow through with his promise to Khan, he needed to have his judgment functioning at 100%.

He gave everyone an hour to meet in the briefing room, but he only used half of that time for himself. There was a lot he needed to do as soon as possible, including restoring one of his necessary wingmen in all his disgruntled glory: Bones. There was only one conscious crewmember who seemed to have enough training in biology to assist the captain, and that was Carol Marcus.

Her focus was applied physics, but he saw in her file that she had studied biology, and she had shadowed McCoy often enough in his duties to be the perfect help for Kirk right now. After everything she had been through, he was reluctant to call on her. But, the voice of command in mind told him that they could all rest when this was over. He paged her personal quarters to order her to the med bay, and he made sure he was the first to arrive.

Just like the rest of the ship, it was strewn with sleepers. Nurses lay awkwardly on the floor, the patients who had come in for sprained wrists or bumped heads the most fortunate in their beds. Poor Bones… They were all so vulnerable—their lives depended on their captain. If Khan succeeded in blowing them all to kingdom come, Kirk's crew would have perished without any warning. It wasn't unlike the predicament Khan's crew had once been in—and Kirk's situation now had once been Khan's.

This strange epiphany as he looked to the slumped figure of McCoy on his desk gave Kirk sudden confidence in his decision to help the augments. It was the type of mercy that he needed, too.

"Captain," Carol's voice tore his attention from the sleeping medical officer. "You wanted to see me?"

She looked infinitely better than she had when he last saw her, her skin a cleanly white and her dress as blue as her eyes. All the mud had been washed away without a trace, making the bruises on her throat and limbs all the more evident.

"Yeah…" He squared his shoulders. "I don't know how long we have until the crew starts waking up on their own so I want to revive Dr. McCoy first. I'll need him to take care of them while I take care of Khan and his people. Will he be functional within a reasonable amount of time?"

She glanced to McCoy, a look of pity touching her gaze before she shrugged lightly. "That depends entirely on your definition of a 'reasonable amount of time'."

"The next thirty minutes to an hour. I'm not going to count on having twenty hours before the Volumnia gets here."

She moved around Kirk, taking up a nearby tricorder along the way. With a flick of her finger, the device was turned on, ringing as she used it to scan McCoy. "He's only under heavy sedation. With the right hypo I can wake him up and he'll be right as rain. Or at least his usual raincloud."

"Alright then, do it." He wasn't going to dawdle any longer.

Discarding the tricorder, she moved to a shelf to pick out the necessary cartridge of medicine for counteracting the sedative. Clicking it into the hypospray, she pressed it to McCoy's shoulder. It hissed as it was injected and she immediately freed her hands to place them comfortingly on his shoulders. She watched him carefully, waited a moment, then spoke clearly.

"Dr. McCoy?"

He groaned and began to squirm as the drug coursed quickly through him. Slowly and stiffly he lifted his head. His eyes remained pinched shut as he brought a hand to his head.

"Ugh… What the hell happened…?"

He sounded thoroughly annoyed and it made Kirk smile to hear it. "Neuro-gas."

The doctor's eyes opened at the sound of the captain's voice and he looked at him bewilderedly. "Don't tell me it's the stuff that's supposed to be used on intruders…"

"It's the stuff that's supposed to be used on intruders," Kirk confirmed.

McCoy blinked, his hand moving from his undoubtedly throbbing head to rub tiredly at his stiff neck. "Does that mean you finally got Khan?"

"Yeah, about that…" Kirk cleared his throat. "We're not out of the woods yet, Bones. I'm going to leave you in Dr. Marcus's good hands, and she'll fill you in on everything…"

Kirk was already taking backward steps towards the door. He wasn't afraid of McCoy, per se, he simply didn't have the time for his grumblings. "Carol, I want you to stay with McCoy and help out anyone who wakes up and needs medical attention."

Carol was staring at him accusingly.

"Problem?"

"No," she tried to smooth away her frown. "I'm glad to assist Dr. McCoy, but… I was hoping to help you with Khan's people."

"What about Khan's people?" Bones blinked groggily between then, obviously not liking the sound of things.

Kirk deliberately ignored him. "This is helping me, Carol. The less I have to worry about my own crew, the more I can worry about Khan's. Besides, I didn't think you wanted to be around him any longer than necessary."

"You mean Khan's still alive?" McCoy was just a few decibels away from yelling now. "Who in the hell activated the damn neuro-gas?"

"Maybe you should get Bones caught up…" Kirk nodded to the doctor but was looking at Carol. "I'll be in the briefing room if you need me."

Only when Carol gave an acknowledging nod did Kirk finally make his escape from sick bay. He really didn't want to be present when McCoy found out what was going on.

It was still early and Kirk wanted to be the first to arrive in the briefing room. But when the doors wheezed open, he saw two bodies already occupying the place. Seated at the end of the table, conversing quietly, were Spock and Uhura. When they saw Kirk enter, Spock was the first to lean back to create some professional distance between them. Any other woman might have been offended, but Nyota understood the Vulcan in a way that few others could.

"Didn't I give you something to do?" Kirk eyed his first officer as he approached a nearby vacant chair.

"The sensors are on automatic sweep of the planet. I have been monitoring their progress periodically."

There was something in the middle of the conference table that immediately caught Kirk's eye, and momentarily distracted him from Spock's voice. Coffee. Someone had the foresight and merciful inclination to provide coffee. Before he seated himself, he was already reaching for the carafe and one of the provided cups.

"Captain," Uhura said slowly, worriedly. "Are you sure about all this?"

Obviously she and Spock had been debating what's to be done about Khan. Kirk sighed into his steaming cup of java. "Never mind, lieutenant…"

"You don't even have any security posted on him right now," she pointed out. "You've given his crew the freedom of the ship."

"Can't give them what they already had," Kirk smiled sardonically, taking another sip.

"The lieutenant makes a very valid point," said Spock. "You may want to reconsider the degree of trust you place in the augments."

"What if Khan's instructing them on how to control the ship this very moment?" Uhura reminded him of the enemy's original intention.

Their collective tone of voice was like ants under Kirk's skin. He was making the best decision he could and they were second guessing him. He knew they were right to, and that was what made it all the more grating. He wanted to appeal to them, as his friends, to say You're right, you guys… this could be a huge mistake and it scares the hell out of me. That wasn't what they needed to hear. No matter how close they were personally, they needed a captain. They needed someone who at least seemed as though he knew what he was doing.

He took one long pull of the coffee, gulping down the bitter drink with a wince. He set the cup down and looked steadily between them.

"The day I met you, Uhura, was the same day that I met Pike. He was trying to convince me to enlist. I think he could see that I needed to find some kind of worth in the universe. I didn't have any, and at the time I didn't think I could find any. I was just a guy in Riverside, Iowa who had a father he could never live up to." He was talking to them both now. "But when Pike was telling me about Starfleet, he didn't describe it in terms of a career or some kind of rehabilitation program for delinquents like me. He called it a peacekeeping armada. He was trying to make me realize that there was more than just my sad little life. In the short time that we three have served together, we've seen what happens when we decide to go to war. It always costs more than we're willing to give. Starfleet represents the Federation, and what Starfleet needs most right now is someone who holds onto those peacekeeping ideals—especially now that Pike is gone.

"Our original orders here are to transport seventy-three augments to a research facility to be test subjects. Their rights as living beings—augmented or not—were completely ignored. Seventy-two people were made guilty by their association with Khan. But after dealing with Admiral Marcus, I don't see how Starfleet can hold itself up as being more righteous than a tyrant from three hundred years ago. There's a risk in trusting Khan, of course there is. We know what he's capable of. But, if I'm right that he's willing to go through with this plan, then he's putting just as much trust in us as we are in him If not more so. We could have an armada to back us up if need be, he doesn't. I don't know if Pike would agree with me on this or not. I'm breaking a laundry list of regulations and completely violating my orders to deliver them to Regula I. But as the captain of this vessel, it's within my power to see to it that the most moral course of action is taken. In this case, one that saves lives and actually offers a life to Khan and his people. It's that kind of second chance that Pike gave to me and if anyone has ever given me an example worth following, it's him. If you think I'm completely crazy—if you're convinced that my decision will cause more harm than good—then say the word and I'll step down and give Spock the command."

Uhura's dark eyes had been fixed on Kirk while he spoke, absorbing every word with empathy and what he thought might have been respect. She was a strong woman, but also had a compassionate side that often revealed itself. When Kirk addressed his first officer, she turned her gaze to Spock anxiously. Spock, meanwhile, was as expressive as a stone statue. But Kirk was sure he saw a glimmer of emotion in there when it was suggested that he take command.

"Captain…" Spock began calmly after a tense pause. "It would be unwise of me to presume that I would be better qualified to make command decisions in a situation where humanistic irrationality is desperately needed over protocol and regulation. As your first officer and your friend, I will assist you every step of the way."

"Me too," Uhura chimed in with a smile.

They were still concerned about it all. It would have been strange if they weren't. But their expressed faith in him made his throat tighten a bit. Come what may, he was going to see this through, and it wouldn't have to be alone. To hide any potential sentimental display in front of Spock, he distracted himself with pouring more hot coffee.

The intercom suddenly whistled. "Dr. McCoy to Captain Kirk."

Bones sounded remarkably calm, so Kirk didn't hesitate in reaching for the button to respond. McCoy's face appeared on the screen, the med bay's dim interior behind him.

"What's up, Bones?"

"Captain, I want you to report to sick bay immediately to get your head examined…" He suddenly leaned forward for emphasis. "…because you've obviously lost part or all of your damn mind!"

Spock's singular brow popped up on his head and he looked to Kirk. Kirk forgot to mention that Bones was awake now. "It seems you've made the doctor aware of your plans for Khan."

"You bet your Vulcan ass I'm aware!"

"Save it, Bones…" Kirk rubbed his eyes tiredly. He had only just won Spock and Uhura onto his team, he simply didn't have the energy left to persuade the cantankerous doctor.

"Jim—"

"Doctor, you have been unconscious for the past nineteen hours. You neither have a reliable amount of knowledge in the present situation nor possess the required inherent objectivity to make any sound arguments against the captain's command decision. You have no doubt been given your own orders to follow that require your singular abilities as a doctor and nothing more."

Kirk stared at Spock who essentially just told Bones to shut up and do his job. As much as Kirk loved his Southern friend, he was thankful for Spock's defense. Though he did feel a bit guilty when he saw the bug-eyed, flustered look on McCoy's face.

"Sorry, Bones…" Kirk felt compelled to say. "But we'll argue about this when it's all over. Everything'll be alright."

"When it's all over…" The doctor quirked an eyebrow to match Spock's. "You mean when it's too late… I'll be in the med bay if anyone needs me. McCoy out."

The screen flicked off, but there was a lingering air of grumpy.

The timing could not have been more perfect, for only mere seconds later, the door of the briefing room swooshed open to admit Khan with Marla and Joaquin at his side.