The sound of static was what in the end woke her, hissing above her head. Eve sat up wearily, body aching from sleeping on the unyielding floor and just the general battery. She groaned, rubbing her face. "Anything interesting?"
When there was no answer she turned, a chill creeping over her skin as she realized she was alone. Quickly she got to her feet, tossing the blanket aside and scrambling in front of the computer, placing her hand onto the tablet and watching as the information sorted itself. She tried scanning for the name Odysseus, but before she could find it the static turned to a high pitched wail, digging into her ears.
"Gah!" She wheeled back, gripping her ears. Then it cut short, and there came a dead tone voice from the computer speakers.
"Attention John Harrison, this is Captain Hikaru Sulu of the U.S.S. Enterprise. A shuttle of highly trained officers is on its way to your location. If you do not surrender to them immediately, I will unleash the entire payload of advanced torpedoes locked onto your location. You have two minutes to confirm your compliance. Refusal to do so will result in your obliteration. If you test me… you will fail."
The com dropped, leaving her alone in the hush of the cave. It took her mind approximately half a minute to comprehend what she'd just received… Starfleet with torpedoes? What was any ship not manned by Marcus doing with torpedoes?
Two minutes.
"John!" She screamed, fear driving her back to habit. She crawled over to the bag, picking up the smallest phaser she could find then launching herself into the crevice, squirming her way out into the howling wind. She cursed as she was hit face first with a cloud of black powder, scarf and hood still down. She wheezed, yanking both up and squinting to try and make out anything in the murk. "K-Khan? Khan!"
She stopped short of another scream as she saw a tall shape ahead in the vortex of black and orange, dark and broad. It moved towards her at a gradual pace, hands at its sides. And then it got close enough for her to see armour, and a helmet which concealed the face with a strange ridge up the center.
Klingon armour.
Unthinking, she lifted the phaser, pointing it at the Klingon. It turned its head to one side, making a low garbled noise. She didn't speak their language, but she knew it at once. She took a few steps back towards the crevice, certain that the alien's size wouldn't permit it to follow her. But then it would have her trapped, and be positioned to jump Khan when he returned.
Not to mention the less than a minute she had before she was turned into radioactive dust.
Before she could make a choice, out of the distance there came a rain of red phaser fire. The Klingon roared, trying to charge her, but it was forced to the ground before it made half the distance between them.
Eve didn't realize she was panting until Khan seized her arm, tugging her back inside. "We need to move. Now. They found the light."
"S-Starfleet." She stuttered as she was yanked back into the cave, stumbling slightly. He froze, watching her trying to contain her sheer terror. "The U.S.S. Enterprise is here. They have torpedoes th-they're going to fire on us unless we submit to a landing party."
He dropped the heavy artillery phaser he'd been carrying, striding over and grabbing her by the shoulders. "Evelette are you certain he said torpedoes? Evelette!" He shook her when she didn't respond.
She nodded quickly. "The message came through the computer. Advanced he said… but it wasn't Marcus… Did you make them?"
Khan took a step back, momentarily overwhelmed. It was strange, seeing this sudden reversal in his face. Hope, genuine hope. "Where is the landing party?"
"He said they were coming to our location. But we need to-"
"If it isn't Marcus, he won't fire torpedoes at his own men. We need to move – Klingons are swarming the area, the can't beat us to these people. When we reach them, you need to pretend I took you hostage. Then we'll find a way to get you to the torpedoes."
"Me?" She shook her head, watching as he rushed about the cave grabbing phasers and throwing aside anything not weaponized. "What am I going to do with them?"
"Open them up." He grinned. "Eve – those weapons contain my crew. Marcus intended for that starship to fire them on us, destroying me with my own people. But if you can release even a handful, we can take over that ship. Imagine – all we'd have to do to destroy your virus is open fire on that miniscule base."
"And how exactly do I open them?"
"I can tempt the crew to open one up – all you'll have to do is wake whoever is inside up, and then they can do the rest." He assured her, grabbing the most massive phaser she'd ever seen, and throwing her a phaser rifle. She caught it, but not gracefully.
Seeing her looking down sheepishly at the gun, he set his own aside and walked over to her. She raised a brow leerily as he touched her cheek. "You are fully capable of doing this, I have no doubt. I'll be watching over you the whole way as you run ahead, no one will harm you. And when you get on the ship, it will only be a matter of getting to the medical bay."
"And when your people are awake?" She challenged. "What do you imagine is going to differentiate me from the crew of that ship?"
"They will listen to me." He said firmly. "They will not harm you whilst you are under my protection."
She pushed the rifle back against his chest. "A hostage wouldn't be carrying this."
"Fine." He let go of her and tossed it aside. "We should move."
"Agreed." She said grimly, fixing her coverage to make sure she wouldn't loose it while running. She placed a hand on the sharp black rock, looking back at him. "How do we know where to find these people?"
"Go left, follow the bottom of the hillside. It will lead down into the industrial sector – that's where the Klingon's have been flying to. Someone must be there."
Someone, and an army of murderous warriors. She thought, but all the same she went out, jogging to the left until she found the bottom of a sheer hillside scattered with shale like rock. She began to run along the edge, keeping low and constantly scanning the area for any movement. She couldn't see Khan anywhere, but he had promised she wouldn't be alone. It was a touching sentiment, but the darker side of her brain enjoyed pointing out to her that it was just as easily a warning.
The storm was getting worse – she had to hurry into the industrial structures of risk being buried under all this ash like substance. It didn't take long for hill to turn to carved building and large Klingon sized walls forming a sort of maze. She paused on the crest of the hill overlooking the maze, keeping low as she saw what the howling wind had masked.
Four jumpships – three with stretched wings like a lurking bird of prey, hovering above a group of Klingons, and one that was almost tear drop shaped, the front circular and broad tapering toward the back ending in a sharp point. There was a woman, speaking with the Klingons – a human.
Somehow the odds of two human landing parties in Klingon territory was too unlikely. These had to be the Starfleet officers promised. She slid down the hill, grimacing as the black shale tinkled like wind chimes under her. She dropped the last six feet into the maze, gasping as the impact shocked up her legs.
She began her way, always going up three then left one. It was the best she could hope to come out at the back of the federation ship.
It would have been smarter to count them out first. As she edged around a final block, she stopped short as she found herself somewhere in the middle of the space between the Starfleet's ship and the only landed Klingon ship. She crouched low, hugging the corner of the wall as she watched the Klingon remove its helmet, exchanging growls with the woman.
Eve covered her mouth to muffle the noise that escaped her as the Klingon grabbed the woman's throat, bringing her close. He was drawing something at his side… she couldn't quite make it out.
Then fire, red phaser fire rained down on them. From the farthest reach of the room on a bridge in front of a massive yellow glassed wall stood Khan, firing off the massive phaser in one hand, a small one in his left.
The Klingons scattered, snatching up phasers and firing off streaks of acid green light as the main one dropped the woman, and she grabbed a blade from his side and drove it into his leg. Eve jerked back as a shot sheared off the side of the wall, spraying her face with chalky dust. Blue light mixed with green and red as more men came rushing out of the federation ship – but she couldn't run towards them without throwing herself into the middle of the hottest spot.
Eve turned, running towards Khan as Klingons rushed into the structures along with the humans. Everything was madness – phaser fire shrieking over her head as she ducked and dodged, keeping to the dark and trying to keep ahead.
She skidded up short as a Klingon halted in her path, swinging with the back of his fist. It cracked against her jaw, knocking her off her feet and onto her back. It lifted its phaser, but molten red punctured through its chest leaving a gaping hole in its wake. She scrambled up, snatching the Klingon phaser from where it fell and turning it about wildly, trying to find the proper placement against her arm. She fired blindly, gasping as the shot made another Klingon duck behind a block.
Faced with little decision she went left. There was a massive bloom of fire as Khan shot down one of the Klingon aircrafts, the shock wave sending her flying back against one of the tilted walls. She cursed as the phaser tumbled out of her hand, but the Klingon coming up behind her gave her no choice but to run on.
She was running full-fledged when she rammed against leathery armour coming around a corner, knocking both of them down in a tangle of noise and sharp pain.
"Roll!"
She heard the order and on basic training she did. Blue coursed through the Klingon and it went stiff, freeing her to move back against the block, gasping for breath, sucking the cloth in and out of her mouth.
"Doctor Swan?"
She turned her head slowly, looking up.
It was him. Of course it was. Startlingly blue eyes, blond short hair, dressed in civilian rough and tumble clothes, but she knew him instantly. She pushed off her hood as the officer hurried over to her, phaser at his side but still gripped. He was watching the area for Klingons – but it was clear he had no idea what to make of her.
She said the first thing to come to mind.
"Please tell me you are here to get me the hell out of here."