Chapter 2
by Starsinger
Those of you who are Trekkies, I'm afraid I might just scare the crap out of you with this first section. You'll know what I mean in a minute, the rest of you, go look them up. Don't own them.
The doors to the chapel opened and Marcus strode in. It still amazed him that the Brass wouldn't believe him. The Jackasses would learn soon enough, he snorted. He walked up to the front of the chapel and looked. A coffin stood there, open. In it lay Captain James Tiberius Kirk. He lay in full dress uniform, unmoving. "Serves you right, you little pissant, thinking you could outsmart me," he snarled.
"Didn't he?" a voice asked behind him. He turned to find Christopher Pike standing behind him. "He's having a state funeral, where are you?"
"I'm here, and I'm alive. The coming war will be my triumph!" Marcus bellowed.
"You triumph, or our undoing?" came the question as Pike disappeared behind a wall of flames. He zoomed out and looked at Earth, it was completely ablaze. He looked over and found, instead of a Klingon war fleet, a giant metallic cube.
"We are the Borg. Resistance is futile. Lower you shields and surrender to us," came the unnerving, mechanical voice. He looked again and found Earth covered in a solid sheet of metal…
…only to wake up with a start in his bed in the hospital. He was perspiring heavily and he yanked his good hand, only to find it still restrained to the bed with handcuffs. He looked over to find Pike sleeping peacefully as the sun was starting to seep over the horizon. Dawn would soon be here. He pressed the nurse's button. A male nurse soon entered, "Please, may I get up? I need to see Kirk." The nurse left, and a few minutes later, he returned with the security guard assigned to him. They got him into a hoverchair with a minimum of pain and he watched as the guard pushed him to an elevator.
Marcus reflected on this serene moment. He had been told that he would be here several weeks. His advanced age did not allow a quick fix with his broken bones. Not only had he broken both legs in several places, he had broken his pelvis and right hip. They shouldn't be letting him up, but he was insistent. When he entered Kirk's room he noticed that the younger man was on a machine. Other than the rise and fall of his chest, he was utterly still.
"Come to admire your work?" another voice snarled. He looked over to see McCoy pulling himself upright on a nearby cot.
"Will he live?" Marcus asked.
McCoy rubbed his eyes tiredly, "I don't know. He's fighting me and everything I'm trying to do to help him. The only positive thing is that he's alive. Yes, alive, his heart is beating. The machine is because of a collapsed lung."
Marcus watched Kirk for many more moments before heading back out the door and back to his room. Later, Archer stopped by, again. "I heard you stopped by this morning to see Jim. Impressed with your handiwork?"
"You're the second person to ask me that question today."
"Alex, listen, Kirk and his crew have become heroes in the eyes of Earth. Spock is well known for having chased down Khan and is considered to be a national hero. Kirk, well, pictures of him in his current state have gone out, and he's practically worshipped for his sacrifice and bravery. You have been vilified for bringing this down on us."
"John, I just wanted us prepared for war!"
"And it takes more than just machines to fight a war. It takes smart men and women willing to fight and make solid decisions to win it. Jim, if he survives, will get that five year mission. You will go to prison. Didn't you listen to him at the Daystrom Institute? That was the third such incident recorded of him putting a series of unrelated items together and coming to a startling, and clear conclusion that came true. Can you do that?" Archer sighed. "I'll leave you to that, Alex. You're going to have a lot of time to consider what went wrong before the trial." Archer left Marcus to his unhappy thoughts.