Spock was sitting in the captain's chair studying a readout when the com whistled at him. "Spock here," he said.
"Spock, we're having some trouble in the holodeck," Jim said. "You got any idea what's going on?"
"What sort of trouble are you having, Captain?"
"Well…we were writing a holo-novel, and suddenly, we're in a cave in a program for combat with Klingons."
Spock stood up. "Captain, are you in danger?"
"I don't know yet, but this thing says the safety protocols are off…we can't control it."
"Jim, your signal is breaking up."
"Spock…"
"Captain?"
The signal went out completely. "Mister Sulu, you have the con," Spock said and left the Bridge. He switched to a different frequency on his communicator. "Mister Scott."
Scotty grabbed his communicator. "Scotty here," he answered.
"Mister Scott, has anything unusual happened in Engineering?" Spock asked.
"We had a little glitch earlier…kinda like a small power surge. I don't know where it came from. It wasn't anything we were doing."
"Did it come from outside the ship?"
Scotty was silent for a moment. "I don't think so, Commander. Is there a problem?"
"Yes, Mister Scott. The captain is trapped in the holodeck. He was able to get a message to me, but his signal went out. He said that they were creating a holo-novel when the program changed on its own, and took them into a program for combat against Klingons, and the safety protocols are off."
Scotty stood up and Solan did as well. "We will get right on it, Sir!" Scotty said.
"Can they be harmed, Mister Scott?" Spock asked. "I do not have much experience with these programs."
Scotty looked at Solan. "Sir, as much as I have read about them, when those safety protocols are off, it's the same as reality. They can even be killed."
"We should act fast, Mister Scott."
Spock arrived at the holodeck door. He pressed the code to enter but nothing happened. "Computer, override the program in the holodeck," he said. "Authorization four-nine-nine-two."
"Unable to comply."
"Clarify."
"The program in progress can only be stopped when it is completed."
Spock was rather confused now. "What is the completion?"
"Unclear."
"Who created this program?"
"Author unknown."
"What is its origin?"
"Unknown."
"Computer, was this program installed at the same time as the holodeck programs?"
"Unknown."
Spock thought this had been programmed so that the computer would have no information about it. Scotty soon arrived at the holodeck. "Mister Scott, I believe we are in deeper trouble than we thought," Spock said. "This is more serious than just a malfunction."
"What do you mean?" Scotty asked.
"This was something done on purpose. Are you certain that there was no interference from outside the ship?"
"Not that I know of, Sir."
"We must get the captain and whomever is with him out of this holodeck. I believe their lives are in grave danger."
Jim, Bones, and Carol stood in the cave, and they realized there were weapons on the walls. "Jim, I do not like this," Bones said.
"Neither do I," Jim replied as he was backed up against the wall of the cave. "I have the feeling something is going on here besides some wrong program."
"How could this happen?" Carol asked.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling we better grab these weapons."
Jim grabbed a bat'leth and hung it over his shoulder and strapped a blaster around his waist. Carol and Bones did the same thing. "Jim, the next time I butt into one of your outings with Carol, just punch me," Bones said.
"Believe it or not, I'm glad you're here, Bones," Jim replied.
"Why? So I can try to sew you up if you get cut in half?"
"Yeah. Something like that."
"Why does it have to be Klingons? And who would program something like this?"
Just then, what looked like a view screen appeared on the side of the cave they were facing. Jim thought he was more than startled now. "Jim!" Carol exclaimed.
"This can't be," Bones declared.
"Captain Kirk," Khan's image said. "I know you're very surprised to see me. I'm assuming that I'm dead or frozen, or this program would not be running. I programmed it just for you. You see, I did not intend for you to escape…even if I didn't succeed. Since I know the betrayal of humans, I was sure you might find a way to beat me. However, you will not live through this program. It was created to take control once you entered the holodeck for the tenth time. Even I prepare for the unexpected. Die with honor…Captain."
The image disappeared. Bones and Carol looked at Jim. "Are you kidding me?!" Bones asked. "He's trying to kill you from the grave!?"
"Jim, what do we do?" Carol asked.
"We just do what we always do," Jim said when he finally thought he could talk. He certainly had not forgotten the last time he tangled with Khan. He thought he could feel that ache in his hip now. "We'll just face whatever happens."
"Jim, we're talking about Klingons!" Bones said.
"We've faced Klingons before, Bones," Jim replied. "We just have to do what we have to do."
"You think the others know we're in trouble?"
"I would think so. I talked to Spock enough to relay that we're in trouble." Jim stood there a moment. "I guess we should try to find our way out of here."
"Don't you think that's just what he wants us to do?"
"What are we gonna do? Stand here?"
"I would rather just stand here than meet up with a Klingon. Jim, I'm a doctor, not a fighter."
Bones was standing with his back against the wall, and Jim could see he was truly terrified. "Well, you were saying earlier that you were bored out of your gourd," he said trying to lighten the mood.
"I take it back," Bones replied. "I'll go back in the gourd and stay for the rest of my life."
"Will you two stop it?" Carol asked. "This is no time for jokes."
Jim looked at Carol. "Alright, let's just try to find a way out of here and maybe we can avoid Klingons," he said. "Let's just try not to panic."
Jim moved first, and the other two followed him, all of them with their weapons ready. Jim thought he was going to start sweating. "Is it just me, or is it hot in here?" he asked.
"I don't know," Bones said. "I think we're all nervous."
"Yeah…but, doesn't it feel warm in here?"
"Yes," Carol said. "There's definitely something wrong."
"Is this some sort of Klingon training ground?"
"Jim, we don't exactly know a lot about the Klingons."
"I know but we know some."
They came to the end of a tunnel, and Jim looked both ways. "I don't see anything," he whispered.
"Which way should we go?" Carol asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine."
Jim decided to go right. "Come on."
Spock, Scotty, and Solan were still outside the holodeck. "This program was started by a timer," Scotty said.
"Who programmed it?" Spock asked.
"I don't know. It's very complicated. It's been routed through several systems and…there's no way to stop it as far as I can see."
"Can you beam them out of the holodeck?"
"I don't think so."
"Can you beam someone in?"
"Whoever programmed this did not intend for us to be able to help the captain."
"How do you know it was intended to trap the captain?"
"From the information that I'm getting, it looks like it was triggered by his voice on the holodeck."
"How could that be possible?"
"Well, his voice print is in the system. All someone had to do was use it for the trigger."
"But who would do that?" Solan asked. "How could someone get into the systems on this ship? Was it done from inside?"
"Yes, and there's no way of knowing when."
"So someone's been on the ship…there have been several on the ship who weren't so friendly toward us."
Spock was thinking while he paced back and forth behind them. "It is logical to believe that whoever did this believed they would not be around to seek revenge on the captain, and therefore programmed the holodeck to capture him using his voice. They must have had a timer of some sort. Who would have the knowledge to program the holodeck in this fashion?"
"Not me," Scotty said. "This is supposed to be new technology. How does anyone know how to do it?"
"There have been occasions that those who were onboard were less than friendly," Spock said. "However, there has been only one instance that one who possessed such knowledge used the Enterprise without our knowledge."
Scotty looked at Spock. "Who?" he asked, but then his mouth dropped open. "That was on Pacifica, right?"
"He definitely had the expertise to do something like this."
"Are you guys going to let me in on this genius?" Solan asked.
Scotty and Spock looked at Solan, realizing that he was not aboard the Enterprise when they encountered Khan on Pacifica, nor the first time. "A being you never want to encounter, Laddy," Scotty said. "It was Khan."
"Khan? Who's that?"
"For now, you should know that he was a super genius," Spock said. "One of the cruelest and most ruthless enemies we have ever encountered."
Solan absorbed that a moment. "So, how do we defeat him now?" he asked.
"I am not certain, but we must be very careful." Spock looked at Scotty. "Mister Scott, we must be sure that there is no trigger mechanism to destroy the ship."
Scotty's mouth dropped open. "How do we do that?"
"As carefully as possible, and we should get this ship somewhere that we can evacuate the crew if necessary. The captain would want us to protect them if at all possible."
"Right."
"I will inform Mister Sulu to move us out of this area and to the nearest planet. Do not attempt to do anything without double checking."
"Yes sir."
Jim was glad he was wearing a t-shirt, although it was already wet with sweat. He turned around another curve in the tunnel they were in, which seemed endless. "You got any indication where the door is?" he asked.
"No," Carol said. "My controller is worthless. Jim, how did this happen?"
"I don't know, but I hope Spock and the others can figure out what's going on here."
Just then, they heard something down the tunnel they were in. Jim stopped in his tracks, and Carol grabbed his arm. Bones blew out a nervous breath. "Jim, I don't like this," he said.
"I don't either, but right now it doesn't seem like we have a choice," Jim replied. "You know he's got it programmed to make sure we encounter some Klingons."
"Can they kill us?"
"According to the design of this, they can," Carol said.
"I can't imagine Khan making this any less lethal than he is." Bones leaned back against the wall. "Can you imagine, invulnerable Klingons?"
Jim had not thought of that. "Bones, let's just hope he didn't do that."
"You think I'm not?"
Jim turned the opposite direction that they heard the Klingon voice coming from. He kept his blaster ready, and the others did too as they moved down that tunnel toward whatever they would find. Jim figured they did not have much choice.
They soon came to another branch in the tunnel that seemed endless. They turned toward the left this time, and they soon came to an open cavern that was lit by large torches burning on all sides of it. They did not see anyone, so they moved on into the cavern, moving to the right. Jim hoped they could get out of there quickly and find a way out of the holodeck.
As they neared the side of the cavern that had another tunnel, they could see more about the cavern which had a pit in the middle, and a "natural" bridge across it, and that pit was full of lava. "Jim, let's get out of here," Carol whispered.
Jim hurried over to the next tunnel entrance and started to enter it, and then there was a Klingon right in front of him. Jim jumped back so fast, he almost knocked Bones and Carol down. The Klingon was tall and as scary-looking as any they had ever seen.
Jim fired the blaster at the Klingon but he deflected the shot with his armor. Then he drew his bat'leth. "Jim!" Carol exclaimed.
Jim fired at the Klingon again as did the other two, but their shots had no effect, so they grabbed the bat'leths they had. The Klingon said something to them in his own language, and then brandished his large weapon. Jim had fought with a bat'leth before, and he would do it again. He charged at the Klingon and their blades clashed. He felt the vibration of that collision in his arms.
Bones maneuvered his way around to try and get behind the Klingon and swung his bat'leth at the back of the Klingon's legs, but it clanged on the armor. He studied the back of the Klingon trying to see any place in that armor that would be vulnerable. There had to be a vulnerable spot somewhere, and he knew it had to be at the joints.
Bones swung his bat'leth at the back of the Klingon's knees, and the Klingon let out a blood-curdling yell that they thought might have been heard outside the holodeck. Jim swung his bat'leth at the other vulnerable part of the armor which was the neck, and they watched the Klingon fall, glad that it was only a hologram which disappeared once they defeated him.
Bones stood there a moment trying to get his breath back, and Jim leaned against the rock wall. "For a minute there, I thought he was really invulnerable," Bones said.
"Good thing you found he wasn't," Jim replied.
"They have some sort of armor though. I hope this thing doesn't adjust every time we beat one."
"Bones."
"Sorry, but we're dealing with some sort of genius from the grave, you know."
"Yeah, and he can't reprogram this at all. It is how it is."
"Maybe that's the good thing unless there's some sub-routine that adjusts to situations."
"Well, let's get moving."
"Jim, why would Khan use Klingons to fight us?" Bones asked.
"It was Klingons that he fought when we were on Kronos. He went there to hide from us, and when he found out we had those torpedoes, he fought his way to us so he could get to them."
They looked at each other. "Is that his intention?" Bones asked. "If we get through all the Klingons, we get to fight him?"
Jim thought Bones could always come up with the worst scenario. "He could have programmed a hologram of himself into this…thing, or a thousand of them. Who knows?"
"There need be only one of me!"
Jim whirled around just in time to see a blur of Khan as he tackled him. Bones and Carol tried to grab him off Jim, but Khan kicked Bones in the chest, and then kicked both of Carol's feet out from under her. Jim managed to get out of his grasp but not for long. He punched Khan and then jerked his feet out from under him.
Bones and Carol were getting up, but Bones found himself facing a blaster. "NO!" Jim yelled and grabbed Khan. However, Bones got a glancing blow from the blaster and he fell to the cave floor.
"Bones!" Jim yelled, but he had no time to think of Bones' current situation as Khan turned his attention to him.
Carol grabbed the bat'leth and would have swung it at Khan, but he suddenly turned to her. She swallowed her fear and swung the bat'leth anyway but Khan grabbed it and jerked her off her feet, slamming her down onto her back.
Jim grabbed his own bat'leth as his rage at what just happened came to the fore. "You want a bloody fight to the death?" he asked glaring at Khan. "You're gonna get one!"
Khan turned to him with that ever-present arrogant look on his face. "I'm looking forward to it…Captain."
