A/N: So I got this next chapter done more quickly than I expected. The story is now moving into sync with the events of 'Star Trek Into Darkness' so a lot of the dialogue is taken from the film. I tried my best to keep it as similar as possible, and obviously I don't own any of said dialogue, but I did have to tweak it here and there to make it flow better. No Khan in this chapter, however there are several new characters entering the scene, some of which you'll hopefully be quite familiar with ;D
Also this is my longest chapter yet, but I think you'll enjoy it regardless!
Chapter 10 - Dysphoria
An hour after returning home, Madelyn and Kelly were huddled on the couch, eyes glued to live news coverage of the attack. The Kelvin Memorial Archives had been completely destroyed in the blast and the body count was up to forty. Madelyn's fingers played with the silver locket around her neck, the one John had given her for Christmas, and she couldn't shake the sinking feeling in her gut that he could be one of those bodies.
The com chiming at the apartment door made both women start. Madelyn ran over to answer it, hoping against hope that it was John, but instead she came face to face with Owen Gallagher. Flanked by two other Starfleet officers, he was dressed in his typical gray uniform and armed with a phaser on his belt. Madelyn almost slammed the door in his face, but he shot out a hand to stop her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped.
Owen seemed unfazed by her reaction. "This is official Starfleet business, Maddy. I'm here on orders from Admiral Marcus."
At the mention of Marcus, she straightened. "Any news from John?"
Owen glanced uncomfortably at one of his men, who retrieved a PADD from his workbag. "Maddy, the Admiral wants you in San Francisco. He was aware of your connection with John Harrison, who is now a fugitive and suspected terrorist, and he personally asked me to bring you in for your own safety."
She stared at him for a moment, attempting to make sense of what she'd just heard. Then she crossed her arms, leaning unamused against the doorjamb. "You think John bombed that archive?"
"We know he did." Owen took the PADD from his subordinate and swiftly drew his fingers across the screen until he found what he was looking for, then he handed it to Madelyn. "You can see for yourself."
Unwilling to believe him, Madelyn ducked her gaze to the PADD and slowly scrolled through a collection of photographs of ground zero, taken from localized CCTV footage. The first few records were messy, half-shrouded in dust and debris. The next few showed the air beginning to clear. People were scattered across the image, running in all directions, panicked and bloody and confused. She continued to flip through the images until a familiar figure caught her eye, leaning over the open cockpit of a small jumpship that was parked on the street that had once run in front of the Archives.
She zoomed in on the ship and realized she was looking at John. He showed no signs of injury and wasn't even dirty. A blast of that size would have done some serious damage, so he must have just arrived on the scene in that ship. He was dressed all in black, his expression steeled, and his gloved hand gripping a large bag that he appeared to be setting inside the jumpship's cockpit.
"Okay, but this doesn't prove he set off the bomb. It just proves he was there," she said, handing the PADD back to Owen. She didn't believe John would do something like this, and Owen's accusations certainly weren't convincing.
"There's more but we can't talk about it here," said Owen, glancing behind her to where Kelly was still curled up on the couch. "Admiral Marcus wants you in San Francisco as soon as possible. This is for your own safety, Maddy. We have no way of knowing where Harrison is, nor if he'll strike again and where. We can't be sure if he'll come for you next."
Madelyn worried on her lower lip, glancing from Owen to his men and back. She didn't know where he was getting this idea that John was a violent person. She'd never seen him so much as lift a finger to hurt anyone. If anything, he used his words as weapons, not his fists. But these orders were coming straight from the top of Starfleet, and it seemed foolish not to go along with them, especially after what had just happened downtown.
Madelyn nodded slowly, not allowing Owen the pleasure of meeting her gaze. "If your orders are coming straight from Marcus, then I guess I'll go with you." If anything she trusted Marcus more than she trusted Owen, and right now the latter was just doing his job. She turned to go back inside. "Just give me a minute."
Owen nodded and waited by the door as she hurried into her bedroom to pack a bag. Kelly appeared in the doorway of her bedroom after a moment, and when Madelyn looked up, the fear on the younger woman's face was evident.
"Are you alright, Maddy? Is this about John?"
Madelyn didn't want to answer. She wasn't sure if she was alright. She didn't know what to think, but she knew she didn't want to believe anything Owen said, not until she was given solid proof of John's involvement in the attack.
She recalled the way Admiral Marcus had warned her about him in the past, but for reasons that never went explained. She'd brushed off Owen's warnings as jealousy, and she still wasn't about to take his word on this. Though seeing John in the security footage was more than a little disconcerting, none of this made any sense. Bombing the Kelvin Memorial Archives was the equivalent of bombing a library, and what could anyone benefit from that?
She quickly pulled a comfortable pair of flat-heeled boots on over her jeans, then put on her coat and finished stuffing a few necessities into her bag. Kelly was still standing in the doorway of her bedroom, looking concerned as ever. Madelyn shouldered her bag and approached her roommate. "I've been asked to go to San Francisco by the head of Starfleet. He thinks John is the one responsible for the bomb."
Kelly covered her mouth with her hand, but Madelyn shook her head.
"I don't know what to believe, so I'm gonna go, and I'm gonna find out what's going on. I'm sure I won't be gone for more than a few days."
Kelly chewed on her upper lip nervously. "Do you want me to call Naomi?"
Madelyn nodded. "Ask her to get a sub for my classes. Midterms are next week, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Kelly gave her a sheepish smile and then pulled her in for a tight hug. "Stay safe."
Madelyn forced herself to smile back. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Maddy, we need to go," Owen called.
Madelyn gave Kelly's hand a reassuring squeeze, then headed for the front door where Owen was still waiting. She followed him and his men out the door and down to the street where their shuttle was parked and climbed onboard. She'd never actually been inside an official Starfleet shuttle before, but she was surprised to find it was no different than the average mode of transportation. This revelation was surprisingly comforting and she was able focus on the present as they lifted off into the air.
Her thoughts whirled through her head, the heavy silence onboard accompanied by the engines' steady whirring only aiding her growing unease. Maybe John really did have something to do with the bombing. She was reminded that his behavior two weeks ago had been strange, and there was always the chance that something could have provoked him. It would explain his sudden disappearance, and the uncharacteristic anger he'd exhibited that night, barely contained by his usual stoicism. Still the idea felt foreign and Madelyn knew she'd never believe he would do something like this without solid proof of his responsibility.
Even after Owen had his men give her further access to another set of photographs and security footage from the attack, she saw no sign that John had actually instigated the explosion, only that he'd retrieved something from the debris in the aftermath and then gotten away in a small jumpship. But why had he been there in the first place? The nagging sensation grew stronger and she wanted to ignore it, but she couldn't when Owen spoke up from the cockpit.
"I told you there was a bit of additional information, but Admiral Marcus wanted to keep it under the radar so I couldn't tell you back at your flat. Moments before the bomb went off, he received a message from a Starfleet officer who claimed Harrison coerced him into carrying out the attack. He warned Marcus about Harrison, that he'd gone rogue, and that there could potentially be another attack. As I said, this was moments before the attack occurred. Lieutenant Anders, please show her the message."
The younger officer quickly retrieved the information and transferred it to Madelyn's PADD. She read it over quickly, still disbelieving what she was reading and feeling more and more sick about it. As she looked through the additional footage again, she remembered having the feeling several months ago that John had been keeping things from her, but she'd been too infatuated with him to care and soon forgot about it. Now suddenly the truth behind that feeling was staring her in the face.
As they approached San Francisco, she tore her gaze from the tablet and stared out the small window beside her seat. At night, the city home to Starfleet Headquarters was an amalgamation of multi-colored lights reflecting off of metal and glass and water, and under other circumstances Madelyn would have been excited to see it. But now all she could think about was the possibility that she'd been sleeping with a would-be terrorist for the last two months, and it made her skin crawl.
Her attention shifted to the shuttle cockpit when she heard the hushed tones of a low conversation occurring between Owen and his co-pilot. She straightened in her seat to try and listen in, but the ambient noise of the shuttle made it impossible. "What is it?" she called.
Owen turned and glanced back at her with hardened features. "There's been another attack. An officer at the scene confirmed it was Harrison."
Madelyn's heart sank into her gut.
As the shuttle turned and headed for a landing, the Daystrom complex's enormous pair of towers came into view. A cluster of emergency shuttles had cordoned off one area in the building's side, and as they passed close by, the extent of the damage became clear. What appeared to have been a conference room was now littered with shattered glass, sparking wires and chunks of plaster and debris. Several bodies lay motionless on the floor.
The shuttle landed on the opposite side of the complex so that the curvature of the building blocked Madelyn's view of the aftermath of the most recent attack. She was hesitant to leave her seat at first, her fingers half-covering her mouth as she struggled to come to grips with what lingered in the front of her mind. She could still barely believe this, but she'd read Officer Harewood's message to Admiral Marcus, she'd seen the security footage, and now that there'd been another attack…
"Maddy?"
Owen was standing over her with a questioning look. Quickly she grabbed her bag and stood up without a word, ignoring the moment his hand brushed her back as she made her way past him and out of the shuttle.
She just needed to talk to Admiral Marcus. Nothing else mattered until she got to the bottom of what was happening, and if John was the one responsible for these attacks, she needed to know why.
Owen escorted her into the building, then had her wait outside the Admiral's office while he went in and informed him of their arrival. He came back out a minute later, his expression still hard, only softening a little when she met his gaze.
"Several men and women died in that conference room tonight directly because of Harrison. Don't say I didn't warn you about him."
Madelyn didn't respond, angry that Owen thought he could rub this in her face.
"Marcus will see you now," he said.
She brushed past him without a word and was able to breathe easier when the door shut behind her and he was gone.
Admiral Marcus' office was a cavernous hall, dimly lit save for a conglomeration of various muted news channels glowing on one wall, and the blue screen of a large PADD illuminating the Admiral's hunched over figure. Madelyn wasn't sure whether she should wait for him to acknowledge her, or keep walking towards him. She was conscious of the way her boots tapped on the floor, and at the moment Marcus looked emotionally distraught and in no condition to be seeing anyone.
She stood there awkwardly for a moment, eyes wandering across the room. There was a display of historic model ships nearby, dating all the way back to the early 1900s. The newest model on the end was a particularly impressive starship with a black hull and angular twin engines, a behemoths in comparison with its smaller counterpart nearby. She wondered haphazardly if that was one of the ships John had designed.
"Madelyn McGivers." Admiral Marcus pushed his chair back from his desk and stood up, the lines in his face more evident in the angled light as he approached her. "It's a shame we had to meet again under these circumstances. I hope my people didn't give you too much trouble."
She offered him a disingenuous smile. "It was fine."
Marcus nodded and motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "I was aware you knew Commander Gallagher, so I didn't think he'd have a problem bringing you here."
If only you knew, she thought, but she kept her expression blank and her mouth shut.
"It came to my attention several months ago that you were spending a lot of time with Commander John Harrison, and now he's responsible for the bombing in London that killed forty-two people. Less than an hour ago, he attacked the emergency meeting I had convened in this building. I'm sure you saw the damage on your way in."
Madelyn nodded and briefly studied the Admiral, noticing the cuts in his face, probably from flying glass. There were also more lines in his features than she remembered. "I never would've imagined John would do something like this. Maybe you know him better than I do."
Marcus ran his fingers along his chin, considering her for a moment, a strange look crossing his features. "I know him well enough that I should've expected this. When was the last time you saw him?"
She thought back briefly to the night John had received a message and promptly left her out in the cold. "Two weeks ago."
The Admiral nodded as though he was realizing something, then he leaned onto his desk with his fingers interlaced in front of him. "I'll just cut to the chase here and assume he never told you anything."
"Told me what?"
The way he said it made Madelyn instantly suspicious, then she reminded herself that John had worked for Marcus, and despite the apparent secrecy involved in their work, John had always made it clear that he and Marcus didn't get along.
"John Harrison was never to be trusted, and the moment he entered your life I knew I needed to warn you," Marcus continued. "Nevertheless, given the nature of your relationship with him, I would've thought he'd have been more… open." He raised an eyebrow.
Madelyn felt her fingers clamping tightly around the arms of her chair. "How did you know?" she asked quietly.
"I have people all over London, Ms. McGivers. We've been watching Harrison for a long time."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid that's classified."
Madelyn was silent for a moment, incensed at that revelation. How much of her privacy had been violated without her knowledge? And had John known? She shook her head at herself. At this point it was probably safe to assume that he'd never cared even when he'd pretended to. She shifted in her chair as it all finally began to sink in. "Tell me the truth, Admiral. Why am I here?"
A faint smile played at his lips, but he seemed to take the hint. "The Archives Harrison bombed were a cover for a secret underground facility called Section 31. He was one of our top agents, and he knew that in response to his attack on London, I would call an emergency meeting here. I wish I'd had the foresight to realize that earlier, because he was banking on it. He used a stolen gunship to murder several of our finest captains and admirals, and I could've been one of them. Harrison is nothing less than a criminal, Ms. McGivers, and I'm going to do everything within my power to hunt him down."
He leaned back in his seat as he continued.
"The reason you're here is twofold. I wanted to make sure Harrison didn't come for you, and I needed to be sure you weren't complicit in his actions. Obviously you don't need to explain yourself now, because I can see it all over your face. But you shouldn't have expected anything less from that bastard."
Madelyn felt a weight settle in her gut and stared at the desk, unwilling to meet what was sure to be an accusatory gaze.
"Now that he's escaped, we have no way of knowing where he'll turn up next, but when he does, I want you there. You know him better than anyone else, and chances are if he sees you he won't try to pull anything. That'll make my job a hell of a lot easier."
Madelyn's gaze lurched back to Marcus. "You want to use me as bait."
"Well, when you put it like that—"
"Look if all of this about John is true, the last thing I want to do is see him again."
She hated this, the way he made it sound like John was some kind of animal to be lured in with the promise of a prize, the prize being her. How did Marcus think he could get away with this?
The Admiral narrowed his gaze. "You need to understand, Ms. McGivers, I made a mistake and I'm willing to do anything I can to stop him. Under these circumstances, I don't think you have a choice."
Madelyn held his gaze firmly. "Last I checked, Admiral, I don't work for Starfleet. You can't make me do this."
"I can't, you're right."
He paused, and Madelyn leaned back in her chair with satisfaction, holding his gaze. There was no way she'd let him force her into doing something she wasn't comfortable with. She was allowed to revel in this for only a second.
"But I can leave a mark on your record," Marcus continued. "You knew Harrison before all of this. You know I had people watching him. Obviously they could have seen you as well. Fabricating your complicity with his actions would be easy. I'd hate for someone as young as yourself to lose the opportunity to further your career."
Madelyn bit the inside of her lip to keep from reacting in a way she'd regret. If he was willing to blackmail her in order to get her to cooperate, she didn't want to know what else he was willing to do. He was watching her carefully, and suddenly she realized he'd had the upper hand from the beginning.
"After you find him, and I help you, you'll let me go home." It was less of a suggestion than a thinly veiled command.
"There's no reason for you stay in San Francisco. Once he's been dealt with, you'll be free to move on with your life."
Madelyn nodded without a word. It was either this, or potentially having her career aspirations ruined forever, and the look on Marcus' face said he knew it too.
"Hopefully by morning we'll know Harrison's location, and I'll have Commander Gallagher keep you informed." Marcus reached over and held down a com button. "Commander, please escort Ms. McGivers to her accommodations for the night."
Madelyn steeled her gaze at him angrily, but he'd returned his attention to the PADD on his desk and didn't seem to notice. Behind her the door opened, and she knew Owen would be waiting on her. She stood up without another word and turned on her heel, striding ardently towards him without meeting his gaze. When she felt his hand brush her back for the second time, she gritted her teeth and pushed down her urge to react. It wasn't until she was sure they were out of earshot of the Admiral's office that she wheeled around to face him.
"Don't you dare think you can turn this around and make this about us," she said quietly, enunciating every syllable so they dripped bitterly off her tongue. "You know I'm not happy about any of this."
"I never said anything about us." Owen smirked a little until Madelyn shifted, tilting her chin down as a warning. "But like I said, I did warn you about him."
She pointed a finger at his face. "I'm warning you. The last thing I need is your smartass trying to make moves. You will stay away from me, is that clear?"
Owen raised his hands defensively. "I'm just doing my job."
"And does your job involve touching me?" she said calmly.
His jaw clenched and she felt a tinge of satisfaction. "Just do what Marcus told you to do, Owen. I can't deal with this right now."
She hated the way he was looking at her, with sad blue eyes that begged her to retrace her steps and calm down, but there was nothing else she wanted to say. She waited until he was walking again and in front of her before allowing herself to let down her defenses and take a good, deep breath.
John had committed acts of terrorism resulting in the deaths of over fifty people, and she was trying so hard to make that fact sink in. Owen being in the picture was only going to make that more difficult. She hoped tonight would be the last she saw of him, and she hoped they would find John quickly. She wanted this to be over as soon as possible. She wanted to go back home and forget she'd ever met him, or ever slept with him, and she felt used and dirty because of that. It was as if he'd thrown her away two weeks ago, without an explanation or even an excuse. It was more than enough trying to believe that he'd committed acts of terror, but in the name of what? Why had he done this? What had Starfleet ever done to him? She couldn't think of a single legitimate reason that made sense.
She hoped she'd get the opportunity to tell him what a dick he'd been to hide all those things from her, to act like he never planned to murder innocent people. She wanted to let him know that she wasn't the type of woman to brush actions like that aside, and if it meant introducing his face to her hand, then so much the better.
In the morning, she was hit with a fresh wave of nausea and quickly downed a portion of the Dramamine she was glad she'd remembered to pack. She chalked it up to stress and anger, but didn't have much time to ruminate over anything when the com in her quarters chimed. Owen was there waiting for her, with orders to take her to a hangar where she would be shuttled onboard the USS Enterprise. Madelyn almost couldn't believe it.
"Why am I only finding this out now?"
"Admiral Marcus wants you to accompany the crew tasked with bringing in Harrison."
"So they found him. Where is he?"
"Harrison? He's on Kronos."
Madelyn barely withheld the curse on the tip of her tongue, but quickly grabbed her things and followed Owen to their shuttle, all the while thinking to herself how insane this turn of events was becoming. To even think of going to the Klingon homeworld meant that Starfleet had just opened itself up to the possibility of a war.
Ten minutes later, they landed in a bustling Starfleet hangar. Madelyn kept a close eye on Owen's curly blond head as he made his way between people and storage crates and forklifts, glad for his apparent obliviousness to the chaos around them. When they stopped, he left her with a tall, black-haired Vulcan, and then said a quick goodbye that told Madelyn he was in no mood to talk to her. She watched him go then turned when the Vulcan introduced himself.
"Madelyn McGivers. I'm Commander Spock, First Officer on the Enterprise."
She looked up at Spock with a faint smile and offered her hand for him to shake. He took it firmly, but his angular eyebrow lifted a fraction and she barely realized her mistake before he turned on his heel.
"If you'll follow me, Ms. McGivers."
She went quickly after him, annoyed with the typical Vulcan detachment he was displaying, as well as the fact that he already knew her name. They boarded the nearby shuttle and Madelyn gratefully settled into the window seat she was pointed to. Finally she had a chance to breathe and process what was happening.
"This is insane," she muttered. "This is so insane. I can't believe this is happening."
"If it's any consolation, I volunteered for this, which makes me more insane than you."
The source of the eccentric southern accent was an officer who'd just taken the seat beside her. Madelyn glanced at him, noticing the tightness in his features, the way his gaze narrowed and his eyebrow arched when he looked at his medical instruments. He angled them towards the younger man sitting in front of him and studied the readings briefly with a frown before putting them away and stretching out his hand.
"I'm Doctor Leonard McCoy."
She shook his hand firmly. "Madelyn McGivers."
"I take it you're the token civilian. I was told to make you a priority, though you seem perfectly healthy to me. When we get onboard the Enterprise, I'll be running the usual tests. This your first time in space?"
"It had to be under these circumstances, unfortunately," she replied.
McCoy shook his head and continued to scowl. "Believe me, it's no joyride."
Madelyn couldn't help but smile at the tone of his voice. She liked him already.
"Status report, Mr. Spock."
Madelyn glanced up to see a younger man with bright blue eyes and cropped blond hair enter the shuttle and take a seat in front of her. He could have passed for an irresponsible frat boy had he not been dressed in the yellow of Starfleet Command.
"The Enterprise should be ready for launch by the time we arrive," Spock replied. The younger man nodded and fiddled with something onscreen his PADD. "Captain," Spock continued. "Thank you for requesting my reinstatement."
The younger man gave a faint smile and nodded in affirmation. "You're welcome."
Captain? This guy looked to be at least a year or more younger than herself, and yet he was the captain of this mission? "This is insane," Madelyn repeated quietly to herself. She knew Dr. McCoy had heard her while busying himself in attempting to scan the captain, but she didn't care.
"As I am again your first officer," Spock was saying, "it is now my duty to strongly object to our mission parameters."
The captain nodded with a knowing smile this time. "Of course it is."
"There is no Starfleet regulation that condemns a man to die without a trial," Spock continued, his tone taking on more urgency than Madelyn would expect from a Vulcan. "…something you and Admiral Marcus are forgetting."
The captain gave no response this time.
"Also, preemptively firing torpedoes at the Klingon homeworld goes against every—"
"You yourself said the area was uninhabited," the captain replied, cutting his first officer off. "There's only gonna be one casualty. And in case you weren't listening, our orders had nothing to do with Starfleet regulation."
McCoy leaned forward suddenly, ignoring his instruments. "Wait a minute, we're firing torpedoes at the Klingons?"
"Regulations aside, this action is morally wrong," said Spock.
"Regulations aside, pulling your ass out of a volcano was morally right!" said the captain. "I didn't win any points for that."
McCoy's instruments bleeped. "Woah, Jim, calm down."
"I'm not gonna take ethics lessons from a robot!"
"Reverting to name calling suggests that you are defensive and therefore find my opinion valid," said Spock.
"I wasn't asking for your opinion. Bones, get that thing off my face."
McCoy removed the sensor he was pressing to the captain's face and glanced at Madelyn. She smiled faintly. "Bones?"
He rolled his eyes. "Long story."
"Captain, our mission could start a war with the Klingons and it is by its very definition immoral," Spock continued. "Perhaps you should take the requisite time to arrive at this conclusion for yourself."
Madelyn turned to McCoy again, utterly confused and disturbed that anyone was even considering firing torpedoes at Kronos. "Would you care to explain to me what the hell is going on?"
"Yeah, hey Jim, would you care to explain to this lovely lady here why we're going to be firing torpedoes at the damn Klingons?"
"I thought we were going to arrest John Harrison," she added.
The captain, whose name was apparently Jim, turned in his seat and looked at her, and Madelyn got the very distinct feeling from the look on his face that he was about to hit on her, until she heard a familiar English voice from the doorway up front.
"Captain Kirk?"
She glanced up and barely withheld her surprise at seeing her friend Carol Marcus standing there in a flight suit. Carol caught her look and smiled a bit, but her focus was on the captain.
"I'm science officer Wallace. I've been assigned to the Enterprise by Admiral Marcus." She held a PADD out to Kirk. "These are my transfer orders."
Madelyn frowned. Wallace? Why was she using her maiden name?
"You requested an additional science officer, Captain?" asked Spock, in a tone that could have matched the one in Madelyn's head.
"I wish I had," said Kirk, glancing down at the PADD. "Lieutenant Carol Wallace. Doctorate in Applied Physics. Specializing in Advanced Weaponry."
"Impressive credentials," said Spock.
"Thank you," said Carol.
"But redundant now that I am back aboard the Enterprise."
"And yet the more the merrier!" Kirk shot his Vulcan first officer a look as he handed Carol back her PADD. "Have a seat, doctor."
Carol grinned at him and sent Madelyn a knowing look that said they could catch up later. Madelyn nodded. She wasn't about to spill her secrets in front of these people. She only had a few moments of quiet when Kirk shot his hand between the seats for Madelyn to shake. "Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. Glad to meet you, Ms. McGivers. Admiral Marcus got me up to date on your… history." He gave her a closed smile. "I can assure you you're in good hands."
Madelyn took his hand and shook it reluctantly, glancing at McCoy when the doctor snorted. Kirk also glanced at him. "Oh, come on Bones!"
When McCoy caught Madelyn's eye again, she knew right away that she was going to like him.
"Now that we're all introduced," said McCoy, "Jim, can you explain to us just why the hell lobbing torpedoes at the Klingons is a good idea?"
"It's an act that would violate every Starfleet regulation we have vowed to uphold," said Spock.
McCoy gave the Vulcan an uncomfortable look.
Kirk shifted in his seat so he could see them all, and looked like he was prepared to make a speech. He hesitated, then shook his head. "Look, John Harrison is on Kronos. Admiral Marcus ordered me to do whatever was necessary to end him, so that's what I'm gonna do."
"Captain—"
Kirk held up a hand. "Spock, I know."
Madelyn swallowed and quickly spoke up. "I hate to be the one to say this, but this sounds like a suicide mission. If you fire anything at the Klingons, you can bet they'll start a war we won't be able to win."
"The civilian understands this better than you, Jim," said McCoy. "You oughta pay attention."
The only reason Madelyn knew this wasn't a good idea was because she'd overheard multiple conversations on this same topic occur between Marcus and her grandfather. Now that ot was actually being considered as a viable option made her head spin.
"I'm aware of all this, believe me," Kirk said quickly. "But he's a murderer and a terrorist, and I'm going to bring him to justice. That's final." He locked eyes with Spock before settling back into his seat, and nothing else was said of it.
So instead of finding and arresting John, they were going to throw torpedoes at him. Madelyn couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong with this scenario, but she was in no position to be calling the shots. Less than a day ago, the man she'd been sleeping with for the past two months had revealed himself to be a terrorist, and she'd been too ignorant to notice the signs.
Because, looking back, there had been signs, and she felt like an idiot for not noticing them sooner. The tension he'd exhibited every time he mentioned Starfleet or Admiral Marcus, the way he spoke about his work, and then of course his disappearance two weeks ago. She should have seen it coming. She should have been paying attention, and if she had, she might have been able to stop him.
Admiral Alexander Marcus stood looking out at San Francisco from his office as the morning sun crept above the horizon, glinting orange off the seemingly ageless Golden Gate Bridge. A relic of centuries past, Marcus wondered briefly if the time would come when even such an iconic structure would be subjected to the destruction of a new war. With Khan having slipped out of his grasp, time was quickly running out to act. Confidence was Marcus' only ally now, confidence that the plan he had quickly formulated would work.
Khan still thought he had the upper hand by escaping to Kronos. That bastard knew Starfleet would never publicly send people to the Klingon home world; by doing what he'd done so far, the Augment was practically asking to start a war. Marcus had decided what he was going to do in retaliation almost as soon as Jim Kirk had revealed where Khan was hiding. This would be only way to tie up the loose ends of the shitstorm that had resulted from the mistake he'd made almost a year ago. Then again, looking back, the outcome had seemed inevitable no matter what.
Marcus would have had specialized weapons and ships designed whether the Botany Bay had been discovered or not, but having Khan's superior and savage intellect on his side for so long had been the icing on the cake. He had to give it to the bastard on that account. Among many of its highly advanced capabilities, the brand new and barely used USS Vengeance was twice the size of any Constitution-class starship used by Starfleet, and had three times the speed. With Mark IV warp capabilities, she could catch up with enemy ships at warp and fire on them using advanced phasers proven to tear drone ships to shreds in tests.
The Vengeance's beaming technology was also highly advanced, capable of bypassing the most current shielding technologies, as well as blocking incoming signals, which would eliminate the threat of onboard skirmishes. Ironically, that was what had kept Khan from seizing the ship himself instead of being forced to beam to another planet after he'd attacked Daystrom last night. It was the only moment Marcus could come up with in which Khan's own devices had worked against him.
But the Vengeance was the only thing standing between Earth and a potential Klingon incursion, and it was the only thing that Marcus had at his disposal with which he would tie up the loose ends of his mistake.
Sending Kirk out there would play right into his plan. With Khan in a vulnerable position, Marcus would be able to dispose of both the Augment and his crew in one fell swoop. Having Madelyn McGivers onboard the Enterprise made the job that much easier. He hadn't planned on it at first, but his people had shown him enough evidence to lead him to mistrust her. Though she seemed to be ignorant of Khan's true identity, that didn't mean Khan hadn't fed her misinformation about Section 31, about the torpedoes or the people hidden inside them, or anything else that needed to be swept under the rug to avoid future complications.
Marcus had deliberated on the timing of it all, and had resolved to have the Enterprise's warp core tampered with. Their systems would give out just as they arrived within spitting distance of Kronos, giving them ample time to locate and put an end to Khan. By then, Marcus would arrive and the Enterprise would be a sitting duck with no defense against the Vengeance's superior weaponry. Once the Enterprise was out of the way, any potential Klingon threat stirred up by Khan's maneuvering could be dealt with, and Marcus would return to Earth a hero.
The com device chimed on his desk and he turned from the window to answer it.
"Dr. Madsen is here to see you, Admiral."
Marcus sighed. "Send him in."
Dr. Hans Madsen had been one of the lead scientists involved with the initial phases of studying Khan soon after he was extracted from the Botany Bay. Originally a medical doctor by trade, he specialized in genetics and had made it his prime goal in life to study genetic enhancements, a tough field to make progress in considering modern genetic modification had been illegal since the aftermath of the Eugenics Wars in the late twentieth century. So when Khan had come along, Madsen had leapt at the chance to study him and Marcus wasn't about to say no to putting the genius in charge.
Danish by birth, Madsen was brilliant and a little mad, with a reputation for being a smooth talker and somewhat of a pervert, but those traits weren't uncommon in people hired to work in 31. When Carol had briefly worked in 31 on the team assigned to assist Khan with his new photon torpedoes, Madsen tried to get too cozy with her and Marcus had had her reassigned to San Francisco. Since then he'd learned to keep the doctor away from a majority of the female scientists in the department. The only reason he'd kept Madsen around at all was because the doctor was always looking for the opportunity to get his hands in places most people wouldn't dare put them, and that often resulted in unexpected progress. That didn't mean he had to like the man.
Madsen walked into Marcus' office dressed in a formal medical uniform, no doubt an attempt to make a good impression, something Marcus could see right through. He didn't need to be impressed by the doctor's outward appearance to know he could do a good job.
"Admiral Marcus, thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I'm aware you'll be leaving soon to send the Vengeance on her maiden voyage."
Marcus grunted, glancing at the time. "In less than half an hour. How can I help you, doctor?"
Madsen ran his fingers through his long, slicked back blond hair and handed the Admiral his PADD. "I was going through a set of archives in the lab this morning, and I stumbled upon this bit of code. It doesn't look like much until you dig deeper into the file. It was erased, but not completely. I managed to piece it together with a bit of help from one of your associates."
Marcus gave the doctor an eyebrow and scanned over the PADD, not able to make much sense out of what he was seeing. "What am I looking at here?"
Madsen ran his finger down the list of various numbers and bits of data and moved a few of the pieces around. "These are results from a series of tests done on a blood sample taken a couple months ago."
"Khan's?"
"No, sir. That is the interesting part. The DNA is about eighty percent human, with shreds of enhancements similar to Khan's."
"What are you getting at?"
Madsen raised his blue eyes to Marcus' and the Admiral refrained from wincing at the intensity of the doctor's gaze. There was always something a little off about him, but when it came to work, his intelligence canceled out the crazy.
"I believe this blood sample came from Madelyn McGivers. I think Khan discovered something about her and that's why he pursued her for so long."
Marcus frowned and stared at the information on the PADD for another moment. He had no way of knowing whether Madsen was being truthful about this wild claim. If he was right, the consequences could be drastic, but it could also explain a few things about William McGivers that had always bothered him, like how the man had retained his youthful stamina for years after Marcus had lost his own.
"Madelyn McGivers is currently on the Enterprise, headed for Kronos," he said and Madsen nodded as though he'd already known.
"That's why I'm here, Admiral. With your permission, I'd like to be assigned to the Vengeance. With your new beaming technology, it would be a simple matter of retrieving her so I can confirm my suspicions."
Marcus handed the doctor back his PADD. "And if she doesn't turn out to be anything more than you think?"
"Then my efforts will have been in vain, but at least I won't have wasted the opportunity. However, if my suspicions do prove to be true, the scientific advancements we could make could be truly astonishing."
"That was why I let you study Khan."
Madsen nodded, acknowledging the fact that Marcus had given him almost free range of the Augment's body soon after he underwent cosmetic surgery to hide his true identity, but before he was allowed more of a free rein to begin working for 31. "This case is unique, Admiral. I've never seen results like this. They could potentially help us learn more about Augment reproduction—"
Marcus waved a hand in the air. "Yes, fine. I'll have someone call in the transfer order. Look, this wouldn't have anything to do with your benefactor, would it? That nut has been pestering me for months now."
The doctor's face grew blank. "Possibly."
Marcus made a noise that could only begin to describe his annoyance. He cared little for the games these scientists played. Glancing back at Madsen's boyish face, young looking for forty with his long hawkish nose and keen eyes, he decided there was no harm in it. Having Madelyn on his ship would only make it easier for him to be sure she was eventually disposed of.
"Is that all?"
Madsen straightened and nodded. "Thank you Admiral. I'll see you shortly."
Marcus nodded and watched him leave. Hopefully "shortly" meant something like never again. Glad to have the doctor temporarily out of his hair by promising him a plaything, he called for his shuttle, and finished making his last preparations to leave Earth. Time was of the essence now, and the Vengeance better have been ready by the time he arrived onboard.