Kirk returned to a ship in chaos. The damage from the Caretaker's wave had barely begun to be repaired, and now half-fixed systems were pushed to the brink by the demands of combat while untrained personnel struggled to learn their knew duties in the middle of a firefight. He and Sh'athylnik stepped onto the Bridge just in time to hear Sulu say in strained voice, "Forward shields down to twenty-five percent."

Spock immediately stood from the Captain's chair, but Kirk didn't sit yet. He studied the viewscreen in dismay; the sheer size of the Magog ship, and the sheer number of its swarm ships, were overwhelming. Spock had done well to keep the Enterprise in one piece against such odds. Kirk wasn't afraid of bad odds, but these were steeper than he liked. They needed to finish their business here and get out while they still could.

"Commander, ready the tricobolt devices."

"Yes, Captain." Sh'athylnik claimed one of the unmanned Tactical stations and began working at the panel.

Trance looked puzzled. "What are explosives going to do against so many ships?" she asked.

This was one of the reasons Kirk didn't like having civilians on his bridge—they had a tendency to get underfoot and ask too many questions. He frowned at Spock for letting them on in the first place, but the Vulcan only shrugged and lifted a chiding brow as if to say, What else should I have done? Kirk rolled his eyes at him and said to Trance, "They're not for the Magog ships—they're for the Array."

"Forgive me, Captain," Rev Bem said. "But isn't the Array your only means of returning to your own quadrant?"

"Tell me something I don't know," Kirk muttered. He was aware of the glances crew all over the bridge were giving him, ranging from confused to horrified. "Sh'athylnik, are those explosives ready?"

"Yes, sir."

"Fire."

From the blaze of phasers and torpedoes Sulu directed against the Magog swarm, two small blue lights arched away from the battlefield and struck the Array. The silent explosion lit up the nearest ships and sent debris flying—some of it, Kirk was pleased to note, striking enemy ships.

As if antagonized by the destruction of the Array, the enormous Magog ship, which had held aloof from the fighting, began to advance on the Enterprise. Still outside the Enterprise's weapons range, it released a barrage of missiles that flew straight toward them. Sulu managed to evade most of them, but one smashed into the saucer section. The impact threw Kirk to the deck, and he heard a panel explode nearby as an overload blew out a power conduit.

"Forward shields are down," Sh'athylnik reported, belatedly.

"Hull breaches on Decks B and C," Uhura shouted over the whoop of alarms. "Repair crews are responding—"

They couldn't afford another hit like that. Kirk dragged himself into the Captain's chair and called Engineering. "Scotty, have we got the warp engines back?"

"I can give ye warp one, Captain, but anything more's like to cause permanent damage."

Warp one couldn't possibly outrun a ship that size. "Ensign Tellammea, take a look around, see if you can find anything nearby we can use to hide—a gas giant, a nebula, anything—"

"Captain," Spock interrupted. "The Vengeance is powering up its systems."

Faced with the immediate threat of the Magog, Kirk had almost forgotten about the Vengeance. "What's Khan doing?"

"He's bringing weapons online... he's firing at the lead Magog ship."

On the viewscreen, bright lines of fire arched toward the massive Magog ship. In response, a dozen swarm ship peeled off the main fleet and began harrying the Vengeance.

"What the hell?" Kirk muttered. He shook his head. It didn't matter why Khan was doing it, only that he was. With his help, they might actually have a chance to make it out this alive. "Mr. Sulu, let's mop up these swarm ships and give the Vengeance a hand."

"Aye, sir," Sulu said enthusiastically.

It wasn't that easy, of course. Scotty managed to restore power to the forward shields, but there were still a dozen swarm ships circling the Enterprise. By the time they managed to defeat their immediate attackers, their shields were failing again and their phaser banks were dangerously low on power.

The Vengeance was not doing much better. She was larger and better armed than the Enterprise, but she faced not just a dozen swarm ships of her own, but also the lead Magog vessel. Every time the massive ship opened fire, the Vengeance's shields flared wildly and lost more and more power. Yet Khan continued fighting, single-handedly piloting, firing, and managing ship systems. Despite himself, Kirk was awed by the man's skill.

They destroyed the last swarm ships almost in unison, and the Enterprise and the Vengeance came about together to face the Magog ship. Kirk felt a thrill of hope. Both ships were in poor condition, but surely the Magog ship was likewise weakened. Perhaps together they could actually win instead of just escaping with their skins intact.

Another barrage of weapon's fire struck the Vengeance, visibly rocking the ship.

"The Vengeance's shields are failing," Spock said. Then, "The Magog ship appears to be readying another wave of swarm ships."

Kirk looked at him in dismay, his brief surge of hope gone as quickly as it had come. The first wave of swarm ships had nearly destroyed them; they had no hope of surviving a second, let alone the lead ship, which did not, as Kirk listened to the reports coming in, seem to be significantly damaged at all. He could feel desperation closing in on him. I don't believe in a no-win situation, he'd insisted, but he didn't see how they could win this one.

"Ensign Tellammea, have you got a foxhole for me?"

"Affirmative, sir," ze said, in hir deep voice. "Presence-nebula. Distance-twelve-lightyears."

"Set a course. Lieutenant Uhura, hail the Vengenace. Put it onscreen."

The bridge of the Vengeance appeared, hazy with smoke and lit by electrical fire. Khan crouched over one of the forward stations, his his eyes fixed on the controls. He spared Kirk one slashing look, then returned his attention to the panel in front of him.

"I am somewhat busy at the moment, Captain. What do you want?"

Kirk resisted the urge to answer that question honestly. "The Magog are about to launch more swarm ships, and neither of us is in any condition to go another round. We have to get out of here. Drop your shields and we'll beam you back."

"You can't outrun this foe, Kirk."

"I can't outfight it, and neither can you!"

"That remains to be seen. Stand by to transport me on my mark."

The image cut off, leaving Kirk fuming at the viewscreen. The nerve—

If Khan wanted to get himself killed, that was just one less thing for Kirk to worry about. "Mr. Sulu—"

"The Vengeance is changing course," Spock interrupted. "Khan is on a collision course with the Magog ship."

"What?"

But Kirk could already see it for himself on the viewscreen, where the schematic showed the Enterprise and the Magog ship, the debris from the Caretaker's Array lying between them. The Vengeance, which had been not far from the Enterprise, was now arrowing toward the Magog ship. As Kirk watched, another dozen swarm ships spewed out of the lead ship's hull and raced toward the Vengeance.

"I'm detecting a massive energy surge in his warp engines," Spock continued.

"I thought the Vengeance's warp drive was cold."

"Correct. Attempting to engage the engines in this state may cause a dangerous energy buildup in the warp core, likely resulting in a core breach." Spock turned away from his station to face Kirk. "Captain, I believe Khan intends to destroy the Magog ship by colliding with it and triggering an antimatter explosion."

"No," Kirk said, hardly aware of what he was saying. "He can't—no."

He remembered the footage he had retrieved after hacking the Academy computer system, footage his mother had never let him see—the Kelvin flying bravely into the jaws of the Narada, the brief flare of light as his father died a hero. Khan didn't deserve a hero's death, didn't deserve to save them. How dare he pretend to be anything other than criminal Kirk knew he was? Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved eight hundred lives... Pike's words, Pike who had died at Khan's hands. And now Khan had placed his life in Kirk's own hands.

"Can we get a transporter lock on him?" he demanded hoarsely.

"Negative. His shields are still holding."

"Have the Transporter Room stand by. I want him beamed out the second those shields come down. Tellammea, lay down covering fire. Keep those swarm ships off his back or he'll never come close. Uhura, get him back on the line."

The Enterprise shuddered as a handful of swarm ships peeled off the Vengeance to renew their attack. Sulu launched into evasive maneuvers before Kirk could even give the order, and Tellammea responded with phasers and torpedoes. Kirk stared at the viewscreen, watching the Vengeance draw closer to the Magog ship as system after system began to fail.

"I've got him, sir," Uhura said. "Audio only."

"Khan, your ship's barely holding together," Kirk said. "Drop your shields and we'll get you out of there."

"Not yet." The transmission was staticky, but Kirk could hear the strain in his voice. "The autopilot is offline. I need to pilot the final course manually."

Kirk shivered. "Give me a live view," he said, and the viewscreen switched from a schematic of the battle to a magnified view of the Magog lead ship. The Vengeance, silhouetted against it, looked toylike.

"The Vengeance's shields have failed," Spock said.

"Energize—"

"No! Not yet!"

Kirk gritted his teeth. "Standby. Maintain that transporter lock!"

"Captain, the Vengeance is breaking up."

"Khan—!"

"Now!"

"Energize!"

On the viewscreen, the failing Vengeance cleared the last of the harrying swarm ships and crashed into the aft of the Magog ship. A bright prick of light marked the impact, followed a heartbeat later by a massive explosion as the antimatter containment in the warp core failed. The Magog ship reeled, trailing debris and clouds of vented atmosphere. Kirk smashed his hand down on the comm controls of his chair.

"Transporter room, do you have him?"

"I'm here, Kirk," Khan said. His voice was calm despite his close brush with death.

"Stay there," Kirk snapped, and switched channels. "Security, report to Transporter Room One immediately and escort Mr. Harrison to the brig."

"Aye, sir."

"The Magog are withdrawing," Spock said, drawing Kirk's attention back to the viewscreen. The swarm ships were slipping back into the hull of the damaged lead ship. As Kirk watched, some kind of energy sparked along the surface of the ship. A swirl of light blossomed out of nothingness, and the Magog ship turned into its center and vanished as suddenly and mysteriously as it had come. Kirk passed his hand over his face and allowed himself to release the breath he felt as though he had been holding for days.