Ch 19: Firefight

A/N: I went back and did a minor rewrite of Carol's thoughts and behavior over the past five chapters on the advice of a friend. It doesn't change the plot, but those of you who care about the details of her choices or character development (Zedille) may wish to reread them.

Thank you to all my reviewers who make writing this story more fun.

Footsteps seemed to echo down the painted metal hallway as Khan headed off down the hall, followed closely by Darren. They'd already passed half a dozen people in the hall, all intent on their own errands and scarcely offering them a glance. They turned the next corner and...

Almost collided with Commander Smith-Kanawa and a group of guards coming in the opposite direction. "Harrison, good, I need to speak to you," said Smith-Kanawa. "Come with me," Smith-Kanawa gestured towards the next room and for Khan to go in first. So they can shoot me in the back, likely.

"Whatever is the matter?" asked Khan, moving slightly so that his back was to the wall and reinforcements could not sneak up behind him.

One of the guards lifted his phaser, and Khan moved, throwing Smith-Kanawa backward into the guards behind him. They stumbled and Kanawa and one of the guards tripped. Khan noticed Kanawa reaching for the trigger for his collar as Khan was clubbing the guard with his phaser. The guard fell, and Khan kicked Kanawa in the head. Kanawa slumped sideways, head at an odd angle.

In seconds, the fight was over, leaving a few guards lying on the floor or leaning up against the walls, semiconscious at best. He turned to Darren, who had his phaser up and pointed directly at him.

"You killed Smith-Kanawa," said Darren. "How many more people are you going to kill before this is over?"

Khan groaned inwardly. He didn't have time for this. Couldn't the man just make up his mind which side he was on and stick to it? "That needed. Not kill other... otherwise." Darren appeared to think, but Khan couldn't risk it. At least they both had their phasers still set to stun for the guards - not that the guards trying to kill Khan had shown the same courtesy.

Khan whipped up his phaser and fired. Darren also fired, but standard stun really didn't do much to Khan, and only Darren fell to the floor. Shaking his head to clear it, Khan set off down the hall at an unsteady run. There wasn't much point trying to hide the fact that a firefight had occurred in the middle of the hall.

Behind him, footsteps suddenly halted as someone found the scene and screamed. His communicator beeped at him, but he ignored it.

Her communicator beeped, and Carol jumped, thumbing it on. "Carol, Delta-71 Now" came Khan's voice.

"Got it," said Carol. She stood up and straightened, taking off at a brisk walk for the hall.

"Where are you going?" asked Maria, frowning.

"Just going to give a friend a hand," she said. Seeing Maria still frowning. "It's Temujin, he's gotten into an argument with Al and wants me to come and calm things down."

Maria rolled her eyes, and Carol walked out the door, picking up speed as she went down the hall and stopped dead as she rounded a corner and saw the firefight occurring just ahead. She ducked out of the way down a different hallway, breaking into a run.

Everything she had hoped to prevent was happening right around her, and there was little she could do about it. Khan and Darren were quite capable of taking care of themselves, but if they were delayed Khan might arrive to find all of his people dead. And she and Darren were risking too much to have that happen.

She wobbled, nearly colliding with the wall. Drat, these boots were not designed for running in! Which idiot designed female Starfleet uniforms anyway? Someone who'd never had to wear it, that was for certain.

She reached the turbolift and dashed inside, thumbing the lift to on and towards station center. It roared to to life, and as the doors closed she spotted someone come running around the corner towards it. It looked like Khan. Damn, thought Carol. Nothing she could do about that now.

She pulled off boots and stockings, leaving them in a corner. At least she'd be able to run properly now. The doors opened, and she ran down the corridor towards the storage room where the Augments were being held.

She turned the last corner, and saw a man in a medical uniform walking from the opposite direction. He stopped to stare at her, then broke into a run as he seemed to realize where she was headed, grabbing for a phaser that he had obviously failed to bring with him.

"Stop!" he cried. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Looking for something in storage. Are you alright? You seem troubled."

"Of course I am! There's the Admiral's pet Au- Harrison running around loose and the Starfleet regulars are on the way..."

"Well, I'm here to help with whatever you need," said Carol. She wouldn't be able to get into the Augment storage room without Khan here, but if she tricked whoever this was - she assumed it was the doctor her father had suckered into waking Khan - then he might let her in. She had a phaser and he didn't. It would be easier to hold off the Admiral's men from within the room and the cover it offered than from out in the middle of the hall.

The Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Just what do you think you're helping with?" he asked.

"Making sure Admiral Pike doesn't find the Augments."

"How did you know?" demanded the man.

"My name is Carol Marcus," said Carol.

The man relaxed. He strode up to the door, and let the scanner read his retina. It beeped, and the door whooshed open. The lights flickered on as they entered. "We need to turn them all off, then there is a special corridor we can open and roll them to the incinerator." he said, letting the door close behind them.

"Those are my father's orders?" queried Carol.

"Yes," said the doctor.

Carol drew her phaser and stunned him with it, ignoring the temptation to set it considerably higher. There were children in some of those cryotubes. "And you claim to be a doctor," she muttered. "Where does my father find them?"

She knew the first stage of the awakening process, but now it came right down to it, she wasn't sure she wanted to wake the Augments. She didn't want them dead and she would not allow them to be murdered, but they were an unholy menace when it came right down to it. What if Khan wanted more than to escape?

But she could not hope to hold out against Admiral Marcus and his men when they arrived alone. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the nearest cryopod and looked down at the Augment inside. It was a woman. She looked Japanese, and little older than Carol. Carol entered the starting sequence.