The surrealism of their surroundings, on top of everything else that had happened in the past few days—in the past week, if Kirk was honest with himself—was too much. He wanted to sit down on the grass with a glass of lemonade and a cookie and forget about his problems. But there was his ship, and his crew, and the woman called Kati. He forced himself to take a deep breath.
"Spock, form the crew into search parties. Have them look for anything that might be a holographic generator; we need to figure out what we're really dealing with here."
When Spock nodded and turned away, Kirk returned to McCoy and Kati. Khan was there, too, kneeling on the grass with one hand laid gently against the side of her neck. Kirk thought he was feeling her pulse; if she was breathing, Kirk couldn't see it. Kirk turned away from him, irrationally angry. He didn't want to feel sorry for Khan.
"How much time does she have?" he asked McCoy.
"It's difficult to say," McCoy said. "A few hours at least. If she's as tough as Khan, here, maybe longer. But that's just how long until she dies—if I'm going to successfully revive her, I need to get her to Sickbay long before her time's up."
"Is there anything you can do?"
"Not with anything I'd find in that farmhouse," McCoy said grimly. "I could wrap her in blankets or elevate her legs and that would make me feel better, but it wouldn't do her any damn good."
"The cryotubes were never meant to be used for so long," Khan said. His voice was quiet, musing; Kirk could barely hear him over the music and chatter of the holographic people. "Even I benefited from medical attention when I was revived. A few hours may be optimistic, Doctor."
Kirk turned away wordlessly and began walking in a random direction. He didn't have a tricorder to help him search, but he didn't care. He had to do something. If it was Khan lying on the ground, maybe he wouldn't care, but this woman wasn't Khan. She might be every bit as violent and ruthless as he was, but for Kirk she was innocent until he saw proof to the contrary. She didn't deserve to die like this.
After a moment he heard quiet footsteps in the grass behind him and said over his shoulder, "I thought you would stay with her."
"There is nothing I can do for her that Doctor McCoy cannot," Khan answered. "I will help her more by finding a way to return to the Enterprise than by hovering uselessly."
It was a logical, pragmatic thing to say. Kirk wanted to hate Khan for being cold and uncaring, but he suspected Khan was just as frustrated as he was.
Their hostess wove through the dancers toward them. "Have some nice fresh corn on the cob!" she called. If her arm still hurt, she gave no sign of it as she offered the tray to Kirk and Khan. "Corn on the cob?"
"Can you tell us why we're here?" Kirk demanded.
"Oh, we don't mean you any harm," the woman said, smiling. "I'm sorry if we've put you out. Why don't you just put your feet up and get comfortable while you wait?"
"Wait?" Khan said quickly. "Wait for what?"
The woman's smile faltered. "Isn't anybody hungry?" she said quickly, and turned away. Khan reached out to stop her, but Kirk caught his hand.
"It won't do any good," he said.
Khan shook himself free of Kirk's hand, his eyes narrowed angrily. Kirk thought he might argue, but Kirk's communicator chirped. Thankful for the distraction, Kirk flipped it open, though he watched Khan carefully.
"Kirk here."
"Keptin." It was Chekov's voice. "We've found somzing in ze barn, some kind of—" There was a dull thud and then a clattering noise, as though Chekov's communicator had fallen to the ground.
Kirk snapped his communicator shut and broke into a run. "Come on!" he shouted.
He could hear his people close on his heels. Khan was ahead of him, running faster than any normal human. Kirk sprinted after him, knowing he couldn't catch up but afraid of what Khan might do. They rounded the corner of the house, passed the back porch, and pelted across the lawn toward the big red barn, Khan slowly pulling ahead of Kirk.
Kirk burst into the barn a few paces behind Khan and found himself facing a bizarre tableau. Chekov lay sprawled on the dusty ground, his mouth bloodied and his expression dazed. His attacker was the pretty young woman who had taken Khan's arm earlier. Although she appeared unarmed, she had Sulu backed against a stack of haybales. Others from the farmhouse were there, too, including their hostess, who no longer looked so grandmotherly. She had exchanged her corn on the cob for a pitchfork and was barring Khan's path.
Spock, Sh'athylnik, and a handful of Enterprise crew piled into the barn behind Kirk. The big doors slammed behind them with an ominous creak and Kirk realized all the holographic people were armed with farm implements.
The elderly woman smiled up at Khan, apparently unconcerned by the way he towered over her. "Very well," she said, in a tone that did not match her cotton print dress and floury apron. "Since no one seems to care for any corn, I guess we'll have to proceed ahead of schedule."
The wooden wall behind her began to fade. Blue light seeped between the cracks in the board, and then the boards themselves as the illusory wood disappeared. In its place a corridor stretched an impossibly long distance, the walls honeycombed with alcoves. Each alcove contained a single pallet and an array of unfamiliar sensors and equipment. They were all empty.
Curious, he stepped around the woman for a closer look. Khan drifted after him. The technology was foreign and far more advanced than anything Kirk had ever seen, but he thought he recognized medical monitors, life support systems… he cast an involuntary glance at Khan. It looked like some sort of stasis facility.
He stepped closer for a better look, but a noise behind him made him turn. The holographic people were disappearing one at a time in a haze of blue light. One of his own crew disappeared—and then his own world vanished into darkness.