Chapter 41: Genesis
Kirk strode down the corridor of the Enterprise and into his quarters, he turned on the viewscreen.
"Dr. Marcus, Admiral," Uhura said.
The image snowed and fluttered across the viewscreen. For an instant, he could make out Carol's face; then it fragmented again.
"Uhura, can't you augment the signal?"
"I'm trying, sir, it's coming in badly scrambled."
"... Jim... read me? Can you..." What did come through clearly was Carol Marcus's distress and anger.
"Your message is breaking up, Carol. What's the matter? What's wrong?"
"... can't read you..."
"Carol, what's wrong?" He kept repeating that, hoping enough would get through for her to make out his question.
"... trying... take Genesis away from us..."
"What?" he asked, startled. "Taking Genesis? Who? Who's taking Genesis?"
"... can't hear you... Did you order...?"
"What order? Carol, who's taking Genesis?"
The transmission cleared for a mere few seconds. "Jim, rescind the order." It began to break up again. "... no authority... I won't let..."
"Carol!"
"Jim, please help. I don't believe-"
The picture scrambled again and did not clear. Jim slammed his hand against the edge of the screen.
"Uhura, what's happening? Damn it!"
"I'm sorry, sir. There's nothing coming through. It's jammed at the source."
"Jammed!"
"That's what the pattern indicates, Admiral."
"Damn," Jim said again. "Commander, alert Starfleet HQ. I want to talk to Starfleet Command."
"Aye, sir."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Jim Kirk strode onto the bridge. "Mr. Sulu," he said, "stop impulse engines."
Sulu complied. "Stop engines."
The bridge crew waited, surprised, expectant, confused.
"We have an emergency," Kirk said stiffly. "By order of Starfleet Command, I am assuming temporary command of the Enterprise. Duty Officer, so note in the ship's log. Mr. Sulu, plot a new course: Regulus I Spacelab." He paused as if waiting for an objection or an argument. No one spoke. He opened an intercom channel to the engine room. "Mr. Scott."
"Aye, sir?"
"We'll be going to warp speed immediately."
"Aye, sir."
"Course plotted for Spacelab, Admiral," Mr. Sulu said.
"Engage warp engines."
"Prepare for warp speed," Saavik said.
"Ready, sir," said Mr. Sulu.
"Warp five, Mr. Sulu."
The ship gathered itself around them and sprang.
Kirk stepped back into the turbolift and disappeared.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
In his cabin, Spock lay on a polished slab of Vulcan granite, his meditation stone. He was preparing himself to sink from light trance to a deeper one when he felt the Enterprise accelerate to warp speed. He immediately brought himself back toward consciousness. A moment later, he heard someone at his door.
"Come," he said quietly. He sat up.
Kirk entered, hitched one hip on the corner of the stone. "Spock, we've got a problem."
Spock arched his eyebrow.
"Something's happened at Regulus I. We've been ordered to investigate."
"A difficulty at the Spacelab?" said Spock.
"It looks like it." He raised his head. "Spock, I told Starfleet all we have is a boatload of children. But we're the only ship free in the octant. If something is wrong... Spock, your cadets- how good are they? What happens when the pressure is real?"
"They are living beings, Admiral; all living beings have their own gifts." He paused. "The ship, of course, is yours."
"Spock... I already diverted the Enterprise. Haste seemed essential at the time..."
"The time to which you are referring, I assume, is two minutes and thirteen seconds ago, when the ship entered warp speed?"
Kirk grinned sheepishly. "I should have come here first, I know-"
"Admiral, I repeat: The ship is yours. I am a teacher. This is no longer a training cruise, but a mission. It is only logical for the senior officer to assume command."
"But it may be nothing. The transmission was pretty garbled. If you- as captain- can just take me to Regulus-"
"You are proceeding on a false assumption. I am a Vulcan. I have no ego to bruise."
Jim Kirk glanced at him quizzically. "And now you're going to tell me that logic alone dictates your actions."
"Is it necessary to remind you of something you know well?" He paused. "Logic does reveal, however, that you erred in accepting promotion. You are what you were: a starship commander. Anything else is a waste."
Kirk grinned. "I wouldn't presume to debate you."
"That is wise." Spock stood up. "In any case, were the circumstances otherwise, logic would still dictate that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
"Or the one?"
"Admiral-" Spock said. He stopped, then began again. "Jim, you are my superior officer. But you are also my friend. I have been, and remain, yours. I am offering you the truth as I perceive it, for myself and for you."
"Spock-" Kirk said quietly. He reached out.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 - 0
After Spock and Kirk returned to the bridge and Spock assuring the crew that Kirk's action had his consent, he had gone to lunch.
Savvik was leaving the mess hall when Buffy entered. She saw Spock sitting alone and sat down opposite him. "Spock," she said. "I have a problem. Dawn's in trouble."
Spock raised an eyebrow. What were the odds of two things happening at the same time?
"Fate came to me. Told me I'm now a full Millennial, that I have the gifts now. Which I can tell is true as I now feel everyone's emotions," explained Buffy. "Fate said that it had foresaw Dawn going mad. I've tried contacting the Reliant. She's not answering. I figure they maybe running silent. And since your Captain."
"I will see what I can do, Buffy," said Spock.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Enterprise to Regulus I Spacelab, come in, Spacelab. Dr. Marcus, please respond."
Uhura's transmissions met with no reply. She glanced up at Spock.
"It's no use. There's just nothing there."
"But the transmissions are no longer jammed?" asked Spock.
"No, there's no jamming- no nothing."
"What about the Reliant?" Spock wondered.
"Still no response from them either," said Uhura.
Spock turned to Buffy and Kirk. "There are two possibilities with regards to the Spacelab, Admiral," he said. "That they are unwilling to respond, or that they are unable to respond."
"How long-?" Kirk asked.
"We will reach Spacelab in twelve hours and forty-three minutes at our present speed."
Kirk folded his arms and hunched down in the captain's chair. "'Give up Genesis,' she said. What in God's name does that mean? Give it up to whom?"
"It might help my analysis if I knew what Genesis was," Spock said.
Kirk wrestled with conflicting duties, conflicting necessities.
"You're right," he said finally. "Something's happened- something serious. It would be dangerous not to tell you." He stood up. "Uhura, please ask Dr. McCoy to join us in my quarters. Lieutenant Saavik, you have the conn."
As she, Spock and Kirk left the bridge, Buffy had to wonder if what was going on at the Spacelab had to do with the Dawn.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The four officers gathered in Kirk's cabin. Buffy, Spock and McCoy waited while Kirk proved himself to the highest security safeguards.
"Computer," he said. "Security procedure: access to Project Genesis summary."
"Identify for retinal scan," the computer replied.
"Admiral James T. Kirk, Starfleet General Staff. Security Class One."
An instant's pulse of bright light recorded his eyes' patterns; then the screen blinked in filtered colors as the computer ran its comparison programs.
"Security clearance Class One: granted."
"Summary, please," Kirk said.
The computer flashed messages to itself across its screen for several more seconds, until finally an approval overlay masked the safeguards and encodings.
The summary tape began. Carol Marcus, in her lab, faced the camera.
"I'm Dr. Carol Marcus, director of the Project Genesis team at Regulus I Spacelab. Genesis is a procedure by which the molecular structure of matter is broken down, not into subatomic parts as in nuclear fission, or even into elementary particles, but into sub-elementary particle-waves. These can then, by manipulation of the various nuclear forces, be restructured into anything else of similar mass."
"Fascinating," Spock said.
"Wait," said Kirk.
"Stage one of the experiment has been completed here in the lab. We will attempt stage two underground. Stage three involves the process on a planetary scale, as projected by the following computer simulation."
The tape switched to the sharp-edged ultrarealistic scenes of computer graphics.
"We intend to introduce the Genesis device via torpedo into an astronomical body of Earth's mass or smaller."
A gray barren, cratered world appeared on the screen.
"The planet will be scrupulously researched to preclude the disruption of any life forms or pre-biotics."
Jim, who had already seen the tape, watched the reactions of Buffy, Spock and McCoy. Relaxed and intent, Spock took in the information. Buffy and McCoy sat on the edge of their chairs, leaning forward.
"When the torpedo impacts the chosen target," Carol said, "the Genesis effect begins."
On the screen, the planet quivered; then, just perceptibly, it expanded. For an instant, it glowed as intensely as a star.
"The Genesis wave dissociates matter into a homogenous mass of real and virtual sub-elementary particles."
The forces of gravity and rotation warred, until it became clear that no structure remained to the planet at all.
"The sub-elementaries reaggregate instantaneously."
An entire world had become a translucent cloud. The mass spread into a disk and almost as quickly coalesced again, reenacting planetary evolution at a billion times the speed.
"Precisely what they reform into depends on the complexity of the quantum resonances of the original Genesis wave, and on the available mass. If sufficient matter is present, the programming permits an entire star system to be formed. The simulation, however, deals only with the reorganization of a planetary body."
The sphere solidified, transformed into a new world of continents, islands, oceans. Clouds misted the globe in pinwheel weather patterns.
"In other words," Carol said, "the results are completely under our control. In this simulation, a barren rock becomes a world with water, atmosphere, and a functioning ecosystem capable of sustaining most known forms of carbon-based life."
Wherever the clouds thinned, they revealed a tinge of green.
"It represents only a fraction of the potential that Genesis offers, if these experiments are pursued to their conclusion."
An eerily earthly world revolved silently before them on the screen.
"When we consider the problems of population and food supply, the value of the process becomes clear. In addition, it removes the technical difficulties and the ethical problems of interfering with a natural evolutionary system in order to serve the needs of the inhabitants of a separate evolutionary system."
Carol Marcus returned to the screen.
"This concludes the demonstration tape. I and my colleagues, Jedda Adzhin-Dall, Vance Madison, Delwin March, Zinaida Chitirih-Ra-Payjh, and David Marcus, thank you for your attention."
The tape ended.
"It literally is genesis," Spock said.
"The power," Kirk said, "of creation."
"Have they proceeded with their experiments?" Buffy asked.
"Carol made the tape a year ago. The team got the Federation grant they were applying for, so I assume they've reached phase two by now."
"Dear lord..." McCoy said. He looked up, stricken. "Are we- can we control this? Suppose it hadn't been a lifeless satellite? Suppose that thing was used on an inhabited world?"
"It would," Spock said, "destroy all life in favor of its new matrix."
"Its 'new matrix'? Spock, have you any idea what you're saying?"
"I was not attempting to evaluate its ethical implications, Doctor."
"The ethical implications of complete destruction!"
Spock regarded him quizzically. "You forget, Dr. McCoy, that sentient beings have had, and used, weapons of complete destruction for thousands of years. Historically it has always been easier to destroy than to create."
"Not anymore!" McCoy cried. "Now you can do both at once! One of our myths said Earth was created in six days, now, watch out! Here comes Genesis! We'll do it for you in six minutes!"
"Any form of power, in the wrong hands-"
"Whose are the right hands, my cold-blooded friend? Are you in favor of these experiments?"
"Gentlemen-" Kirk said.
"Really, Dr. McCoy, you cannot ban knowledge because you distrust its implications. Civilization can be considered an attempt to control new knowledge for the common good. The intent of this experiment is creation, not destruction. Logic-"
"Don't give me logic! My god! A force that destroys, yet leaves what was destroyed still usable? Spock, that's the most attractive weapon imaginable. We're talking about Armageddon! Complete, universal, candy-coated Armageddon!"
"Knock it off!" Kirk said. "Both of you. Genesis is already here, Spock, you don't need to argue for its existence."
McCoy started to speak but Kirk swung around and silenced him with a look.
"Bones, you don't need to argue how dangerous it might be if it falls into the wrong hands. We know that. And given what Buffy has told Spock and I it could have already happened."
"What Buffy has said?" McCoy said confused.
"I'm a Millennial now, full Millennial. Fate came to me and told me I was being given the same powers Dawn has. I know that to be true as I can feel your emotions, Doc. Your afraid of what this Genesis thing could mean if it fell into the wrong hands. Anyways I was told that something had happened to Dawn that if things ran their course that Dawn would go mad."
"The thing is we don't know if the Reliant has anything to do with the Spacelab for sure. I didn't cut Dawn's orders so I don't know without checking with Starfleet," said Kirk. "So, it could be a coincidence. Till we know more we need to proceed with the Spacelab situation."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Hi, Del," David said cheerfully. "Can you wait a minute? We're just about to move."
"No!" Del whispered urgently. "Dave, keep your voice down. They're here! They've got Vance and Zinaida."
"What?"
"They lied to us! They're here already. Get Genesis out, fast."
He heard a strange noise in the corridor, searched his mind for what the sound could be, and identified it: a tricorder.
"Dave, dammit, they're tracking me! Get Genesis out, and get out yourselves before they find you, too!"
"But-"
"Don't argue! Look, they're not gonna hurt us. What can they do? Maybe dump us in a brig someplace. Somebody's got to be loose to tell the Federation what's going on. To get us out if they try to keep us incommunicado. Go!"
"Okay."
Del slammed off the intercom and accessed the main computer. He had to wipe the memories before he got caught. The tricorder hummed louder.
The computer came on line.
"Ok," it said.
"Liquid hydrogen tanks, purge protocol," Del said softly.
The door rattled.
"We know you're in there! Come out at once!"
"That's a safeguarded routine," the computer said.
"I know," Del said.
"Ok. Which tanks do you wish to purge?"
Somebody banged on the locked door, but it held.
Del answered the computer's questions as quickly and as softly as he could speak. As a safety precaution, the liquid hydrogen tanks would not accept the purge command without several codes and a number of overrides. Del assured the program that he wanted everything purged except for one memory bath.
The banging and thumping grew louder. He was almost done.
"All right!" he yelled. "All right, I'm coming." They didn't hear him, or they didn't believe him, or they didn't care.
"What?" the computer said.
"I wasn't talking to you that time."
"Ok. Codes acceptable. Safeguards overridden. Purge routine ready. Please say your identity password."
"March Hare," Del said.
"Ok. Purge initiated."
A moment later, the computer's memory began to fail, and the system crashed.
A laser-blaster exploded the door inward. The concussion nearly knocked Del to the floor. He grabbed at the console and turned it off. The screen's glow faded as the invaders rushed him.
He raised his hands in surrender.
The tanks were venting into space. In about one minute, nothing at all would be left in any of the station's computers. Except Mad Rabbit Productions' Boojum Hunt.
Four strangers came through the ruined door, three with phasers, one with a blaster.
"Come with us." The one with the phaser gestured toward the exit.
Del raised his hands a little higher. "All right, all right," he said to her. "I told you I was coming."
They herded him into the main lab. About twenty people guarded Vance, Zinaida, Jan, and Yoshi. The strangers, rough and wild, sure did not look like Starfleet personnel.
Vance gave Del a questioning glance. Del nodded very slightly: mission accomplished.
A white-haired, cruel-faced man stood up and approached them. Nearly as tall as Vance, he was arrogant and elegant despite his ragged clothing.
"I've come for Genesis," he said. "Where is it?"
"The scientists shipped out of here a couple hours ago," Vance said. "They didn't tell us where they went or what they took. We're just technicians."
The leader of the group turned to one of his people.
Del recognized Captain Dawn Summers, formerly of the Enterprise and now assigned to the Reliant, and cursed under his breath. Captain Terrell stood a bit farther back in the group. Neither appeared to be a prisoner- in fact, they both carried phasers.
"Is this true, Dawn?"
"No, Khan." Pale and blank-looking, Dawn spoke without expression.
"Who is he?" Khan gestured toward Vance.
"Dr. Vance Madison."
Khan took a step toward him. Two of his people grabbed Vance's arms. Del saw what was coming and fought to go to Vance's aid. One of the people behind him put a choke-hold on him.
Khan struck Vance a violent backhand blow to the face, flinging him against his captors. Dazed, Vance shook his head. He straightened up. A thin trickle of blood ran down his chin.
"Do not lie to me again, Dr. Madison."
Khan went back to questioning Dawn. "Who are these others?"
Dawn said she did not know Yoshi or Jan, but she identified Zinaida and Del. Del tried to figure out what was going on. What were Dawn and Terrell doing with this bunch of pirates?
"You can save yourselves a great deal of unpleasantness by cooperating," Khan said.
No one spoke.
"My lord-"
"Yes, Joachim?"
"There's nothing in the computer but this."
Khan joined Joachim and gazed down at the computer screen. At first, he smiled. That scared Del, because it indicated that Khan had either seen Carol's grant application, or otherwise knew a good deal about Genesis. The opening Boojum graphics closely resembled a Genesis simulation.
Del looked across at Vance, worried about him. "You okay?"
The woman behind Del tightened her hold on his throat, so he shut up. But Vance nodded. The dazed look, at least, had disappeared.
Khan suddenly shouted, incoherent with rage. "A game!" he screamed. "What do you mean, a game!" Yoshi was the nearest to him of the station personnel.
Khan swung around and grabbed him.
"A game! Where is Genesis?" He picked Yoshi up and shook him violently.
"I don't know!"
"He's telling the truth! Leave him alone!" Vance struggled but could not get free.
Khan set Yoshi down gently.
"This one knows nothing of Genesis?" he asked kindly.
"That's right. Whatever you're after, Jan and Yoshi have nothing to do with it. Leave them alone."
Khan drew a knife from his belt. Before anyone understood what, he planned, he grabbed Yoshi by the hair, jerked his head back, and cut his throat. Yoshi did not even cry out. Blood spurted across the room.
Warm droplets spattered Del's cheek.
"My god!"
Someone- one of Khan's own people- screamed. Khan reached for Jan. Del wrenched himself out of his captors' hands and lunged. The knife flashed again. Jan's scream stopped suddenly and arterial blood sprayed out. Del grabbed Khan, who turned smoothly and expertly and sank his blade to its hilt in Del's side.
"Del!" Vance cried.
Del felt the warmth of the blade, but no pain: he thought it had slid along his skin just beneath his ribs.
He grappled with Khan, straining to reach his throat, but he was outnumbered. Within a few seconds, they had powered him to the floor. That was the worst show he'd put up since the last time Vance dragged him drunk and stoned and bruised out of a bar and made him promise to quit mixing recreational drugs. He had kept the promise, too.
Weird to remember that now.
He pushed himself to his hands and knees.
Someone kicked him.
Del cried out in shock and surprise at the pain. He fell, then rolled over onto his back. The ceiling lights glared in his eyes. Everyone was staring at him, Khan with a faint smile. Del put his hand to his side, which should have ached, but which hurt with a high, throbbing pain.
His hand came away soaked with blood. That was the first time he realized Khan had stabbed him.
They dragged him to his feet. His knees felt weak and he was dizzy.
Four people barely succeeded in holding Vance down.
Khan stood just near enough to tempt Del to kick at him, just far enough away to make any attempt futile and stupid. Del pressed his hand hard against the knife wound. It was very deep. Blood flowed steadily against the pressure.
Yoshi was dead, but Jan moved weakly, bleeding in pulsebeats. Someone moved to help him.
"Leave him!" Khan snarled. "Let him die; he is worthless to me." He gestured at Del. "Hold his arms."
They already held him tightly but they forced his hands behind his back. The wound bled more freely.
Khan turned away and strolled to a nearby workbench. "Your laboratory is excellently equipped," he said matter-of-factly, while everyone else in the room, even his own people, stared horrified at Jan, slowly bleeding to death.
"My gods," Vance whispered in fury. "You're insane!" He strained around. "Summers! Terrell! You can't just stand there and let him die!"
"Be quiet, Dr. Madison," Khan said easily. "My people and I do what we must; as for Dawn here, and her captain- I own them. I intend to own you." He idly picked up a large tripod.
"My lord Khan, yes!" Joachim said. "Control them completely! There are eels on Reliant, I'll return to the ship and get them-"
"That will not be necessary, Joachim," Khan said. "Thank you for your suggestion."
"Sir-"
"Tie them up." He fiddled with the tripod.