Evelette was about to enter the med bay doors when she heard her name being called. She slowed, Pavlati scampering inside ahead of her as Kirk and Spock approached. Eve shifted the case in her hand, moving it out of sight her as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Jim."
"Bones and Doctor Marcus opened the torpedo." Kirk filled her in, the two of them going in side by side forcing her to shift the samples again as Spock followed along behind them. She felt herself pale at the name Marcus, instantly on edge. "There's something inside. Bones, what have we got?"
McCoy looked up, a scanner in hand. A blond woman in a blue dress took off a white panel from the torpedo now sitting on a medical stretcher, taking it over to a pile of panels off to the side. "It's quite clever, the fuel container has been removed from the torpedo and retrofitted to hide this cryotube."
The three of them hurried up to the weapon, Eve sliding the case of needles into her boot then moving to the top of the tube, peering down into a pale blue face – serene in sleep, surrounded by blue frozen gel. Kirk looked around. "Is he alive?"
"Oh he's alive." McCoy nodded. "But if we try to revive him without the proper sequencing?"
"It could kill him." Eve filled in, tilting her head. She scooted up beside Kirk to examine the frozen man further. "He's older – late fifties at least. Male… Latino if I had to guess. His clothes don't have any indicator as to his station. It would be extremely risky reviving a man of his age under the best of circumstances… but if we could figure out the sequence... Harrison's body is impressively resilient, and the theory in my think tank was genetic alteration. It's possible this man has the same abilities. Do we have anyone capable of figuring out the code?"
"Well, the technology is beyond me." McCoy shrugged.
"How advanced, Doctor?" Spock inquired.
"It's not advanced." The woman, presumably Doctor Marcus. She came up beside Spock to join them in staring. "This cryotube is ancient."
"We haven't had a need to freeze anyone since we developed warp capabilities." Eve conceded, folding her arms. "Cryotubes were for when light-years were a problem."
"Which explains the most interesting thing about our friend here." McCoy lowered his scanner. "He's three hundred years old."
Spock and Kirk looked at each other, and then Kirk looked to Eve. She touched her brow, lowering her lids as she pretended to think hard. "When I was brought Harrison for the first time, his body was suffering total shut down. It's consistent with the effects of being incorrectly resuscitated from cryogenic slumber. The cells have crystalized, and then they're revitalized too quickly and the body is faced with water poisoning. The cells are surrounded by a hypotonic solution – there's more solute in the cell – and so the water rushes in until the cell explodes. That he survived at all was biologically impossible, but…"
Kirk moved away from the table, jogging out the door his first officer tailing him. Eve watched them go, then looked down at the man again, still trapped in some memory from three hundred years before. Memory of a field cloaked in sunlight, maybe, or the smell of a wife's hair… the way her face would crinkle when she smiled. Surely even war criminals dreamed of better days.
What did Khan dream about, she wondered.
"Are you alright?"
Eve recoiled as the blonde reached out to touch her. "Fine."
The woman seemed to sadden slightly. "You were on SS Montana, weren't you? You saved half the crew."
"Watched the other half die first." Eve said, keeping her expression vacant as she scanned the face before her. She couldn't see Alexander Marcus in this woman, but the name… "If we'd had some of these cryotubes… Put a body under stasis, freeze the virus and force it to halt… we might have saved a lot more."
"No one could have known." Doctor Marcus offered her hand. "Carol Marcus. I've read reports on you're bravery, the only one who would go into the quarantined part of the ship to attempt to treat the sick with your antivirus. As I understand you got them to lock the bulkhead behind you to remove any chance of further infection. You didn't even know your cure would work."
"You know what the worst part about being a hero in the Starfleet records? People feel the need to remind you again and again about the worst moment in your entire life, as if your trying to forget it is just an accident. I'm a double trauma patient, not an amnesia victim."
Eve sighed as Carol's face went blank and she retracted her hand, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry… Sorry… rough couple weeks." Eve leaned forward, grabbing Carol's hand and shaking it. "Evelette Swan, inserter of foot into mouth. Being able to address the whole experience is better than the people who stare at me like a stunned tarsier."
Carol's smile returned and she laughed. "You don't have to apologise, I suppose you get people being rather forward a great deal. I know what it's like having people define you by the past – although the shadow I live under isn't actually mine."
Eve didn't dare ask. She couldn't bring herself to hate this woman. There was a genuine warmth in her that Eve wanted to believe in too much.
"So what do we do with a three hundred year old frozen man?" Eve looked to McCoy as he returned. "Put him in intensive care or the storage closet?"
"Beats me." McCoy grumbled, shaking his head. "What kind of a man stores his crew in armed torpedoes?"
"A desperate one." Eve said quietly. "I'll go wash up, get back on rounds while you figure out where to put El Popsicle."
McCoy nodded, and Eve went over to the sanitation station. And then the com turned on, and a voice barked, "Chief, Captain is sending Khan to you with six armed guards."
McCoy whipped his head up toward the speaker. "Is he from the shallow end of the gene pool? You, you, help me get this bed rolled into C wing. Doctor Swan, if you could get a cot prepped for our friend? While we have him here might as well take the chance to run some scans. Get a data pad and start inputting everything you know about Mr. Talk Dark and Homicidal."
Eve nodded briskly, running to the nearest cot and snatching up the data pad, beginning to throw in all the small useless bits of information she had compiled over time. She looked up as the doors of the bay slid open, and in marched a small contingency of armed men, Khan standing in the center examining everything as his eyes darted around.
They stopped and held on Eve, trying to tell her something. She frowned, trying to understand the urgency in his eyes. She hurried forward, calling, "Over here gentlemen. Two of you stay on the door, the others spread out. We're on a ship floating in space, there's not much of a variety of places for him to escape to. Mr. Harrison, the bed is for you so I suggest you get comfortable."
All did as she commanded, making her smirk slightly. She strode over to Khan as he settled on the bed, sitting strictly upright, and pulled out the datapad pretending to be focused on it. "What is it, what's happening?"
"He is here."
She looked up sharply, and the coms let out a soft ping and then from them came a sickeningly familiar voice as Carol and McCoy came over to Khan.
"Captain Kirk."
"Admiral Marcus, I wasn't expecting you. That's a hell of a ship you got there."
"And I wasn't expecting you to get word that you'd taken Harrison and Swan into custody in violation of your orders."
A few eyes turned towards Eve and Khan. She lowered the data pad as McCoy brought up a smaller hand held scanner and began working while listening.
"Well we uh, we had to improvise when our warp core unexpectedly malfunctioned. But you already knew that, didn't you Sir?"
"I don't take your meaning."
"Well that's why you're here isn't it, to assist in our repairs? Why else would the head of Starfleet personally come to the edge of the neutral zone? Something I can help you find, Sir?"
"Where are your prisoners, Kirk?"
Eve breathed in sharply as the red shirts shifted and began moving in closer.
"Per Starfleet regulation I'm bringing Khan to Earth to receive trial. Doctor Swan can then be put under investigation, but I doubt you'll find her very… what was the word you used to describe her Sir? Crazed and fanatically obsessed?"
Eve smiled faintly, eyes meeting with Khan's. Not perfect… but moral.
"Well shit… you talked to them. This is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to save you from. I took a tactical risk when I woke that bastard up believing his superior intelligence could help us fight whatever came at us next, and now the blood of the innocents he's kill is on my hands. That… doctor, on your ship, is the only reason he was free to murder good men – men like Christopher Pike. So I'm asking you, give them to me so I can end what I started."
"And what exactly would you like me to do with the rest of his crew, Sir? Fire them at the Klingons? End seventy two lives, and start a war in the process?"
"He put those people in there, and I simply didn't want to burden you with knowing what was inside them. You saw what this man can do with the help of a weak minded woman, can you imagine what would happen if we woke up the rest of his crew? There's no hope of playing the peace keeper don't you see? They're playing you son! Khan and his crew were condemned to death as war criminals. It's our duty to carry out that sentence. Now I'm going to ask you again, one last time son. Lower your shields, tell me where they are."
A moment of silence, when Eve waited for the ground underneath her to crumble and drop away.
"They're in engineering, Sir, but I'll have them moved to the transporter room immediately."
"I'll take it from here."
Another tone and the com cut out. Eve gripped the side of the bed, shutting her eyes as she let the relief wash over her.
"Doctor Swan?" McCoy's voice drew her gaze. He'd paused his examination. "You okay?"
Eve looked to Carol, who was watching her uncertainly. "Bad couple weeks."
The ship whistled around them, and with a vague tug it launched into warp. Eve leaned against the bed as McCoy went back to work, Carol hanging back from Khan and Eve. "Well, at least we're moving again."
"If you think you're safe at warp… you're wrong." Khan's eyes flickered to Eve.
There went her solid footing. She felt her eyes swell, and Carol let out a gasp. Neither of them paused to explain to McCoy, who was looking at them like they'd sprouted second heads, but both took off at a dead sprint out of the med bay.
Carol paused at the door, calling, "Permission to come on the bridge?"
Eve blasted past her, rushing to Jim as he nodded for them to come on. Eve's boots skidded as she slid to a halt panting. "We aren't safe!"
"He's going to catch up to us, and when he does the only thing that's going to stop him from destroying this ship is me so you're going to have to let me talk to him." Carol blurted out.
"Ladies, we're at warp." Kirk tried to show them by nodded to the window. "He can't catch up to us."
"Yes he can!" Eve leapt in. "When I finally found out why Marcus wanted Khan it was because I discovered his plans to build a ship Khan created – one with advanced warp capabilities. Jim if you don't pull over he's going to turn us to space dust."
"Captain?" An Asian man turned in his seat, looking to Kirk. "I'm getting a reading I don't understand."
"Jim." Eve whispered urgently. "Whatever you thought about Marcus and Khan, now is the time to reverse it. The virus I'm famous for curing? Marcus seized samples and has been attempting to weaponize it. I'm not Khan's prisoner, I haven't been for a while. He's the most dangerous enemy you'll ever have, but he has more morals than your Starfleet admiral and much more humanity. I agreed to go with him to destroy Marcus' virus. If you don't think the man on that ship is willing and in fact eager to kill each and every one of us, you could not be more wrong. This whole crew just because loose ends."
Kirk stared at her, struggling to comprehend the gravity of what she was saying. She understood, by the gods she understood. She'd found it almost impossible to believe herself, and she'd already hated Marcus.
And then she was flung to the side, staggering and gripping the captain's chair as Kirk struggled to catch Carol and the crew gripped their stations. The ship groaned around them, shuddering as it's form tried to keep up warp speed as it tore at the hole in the ship.
Another blast, and Eve's feet nearly came out from under her. The noise turned to a shriek, and the Enterprise began spinning about uncontrollably. They dropped out of the blue vapours and into space, alarms firing off from all stations.
Kirk was on his feet and steady in an instant. "Where are we?"
"Two hundred thirty seven thousand kilometers from earth!" The Asian man reported.
A dark skinned woman turned in her seat. "We're defenceless sir!"
"Sir we have a bulk head breach." A Vorta reported striding passed.
Kirk turned to a man with entirely blue eyes. "Where's the damage."
"Major hull damage captain." The cyborg reported.
More shots rained down on the Enterprise. Kirk strode towards the chair. "Evasive maneuvers!"
"Captain! If you don't let me speak to him everyone on this ship is going to die!" Carol shouted, everyone in the room going silent and turning to look at their leader.
He thought for only an instant. "Uhura, hail them."
The woman from Qo'noS leaned forward, flicking communications on.
"Dad, dad it's Carol." Carol turned toward the front window. Eve felt her stomach pitch downward looking at the blonde. Marcus' daughter…
The leviathan ceased fire immediately, Marcus appearing on the screen. "Carol? What are you doing on that ship?"
"I heard what you said." She took a deep breath. Eve could see tears mounting about the woman's lower lids. "That you made a mistake and now you're doing everything you can to fix it. But Dad… I don't believe that the man who raised me is capable of killing an entire ship full of people. And if I'm wrong about that, then you're going to have to do it with me on board."
"Oh." Carol tilted her head, and then golden light began wrapping around her. She turned to Kirk, eyes wide. "Jim?"
"Can you disrupt the signal?" Kirk demanded of a woman with white hair.
She shook her head, and screaming Carol attempted to run. She disappeared into nothingness before she could reach the door. The bridge was silent, staring at where the admiral's daughter had been.
"Doctor Swan, I see in typical cockroach fasion you've managed to endure Khan's initial anger." Marcus' voice drew all eyes to Eve, and she faced him slowly. "Well, at least partially."
"I'm not the one who kept him trapped like an animal." She said coldly.
"No, just tested him like one." Marcus sat back smugly. "The Deep Space Virus… that's how he got you isn't it? I knew it was a mistake bringing him in on that project. I assume you've tested that missing vial?"
"Thoroughly." Eve's voice wavered slightly.
"Good. It's ready for human trials… and I thought, who better to be patient zero than the good doctor herself?"
Panic, sheer mind blasting panic. Eve took a step back as the rings began forming around her, speeding up rapidly. She looked to Kirk as he grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry."
"We'll get you back." He promised, holding tight. "We're going to get you back, Eve."
And then he was swallowed up by golden light, forcing her to shut her eyes or risk blinding herself. When she opened them, a wall of phaser armed men stood before her, dressed not in Starfleet uniform but rather grey with blue triangles on the shoulders. Two men held Carol, gripping her arms as she squirmed and tugged and screamed.
"Come down slowly." A man ordered. "Hands on your head."
Eve watched Carol stop and turn, and shook her head over so slightly. They couldn't beat these men. She wasn't Khan, and she'd never got that self-defence lesson. Carol's shoulders sank, and Eve made her way down the steps, placing her hands on the back of her head.
One of the men moved forward, patting at her dress briefly making her grimace. Then he tugged her arms down behind her, and freezing cold metal sealed around her wrists, the cuffs lighting up with two pin stripes of white light to signal they were locked. The men moved into formation around her and Carol, four for each of them, forming a box around the women,
Then with a rough jab by the rifle to her back, Eve was forced forward further into the black halls of the ship.