Chapter Sixteen: Show Us the Way
With her tongue sticking out as she concentrated, Charlie lined up the tool in her hand and with a push of the button twisted the last screw into place.
"There, last one," she sighed as she stood, arching her back as she stretched and raised her hand to wipe the sweat off her brow.
"Finished, Spitfire?" McCoy called from where he stood down the line of reminted photon torpedoes.
"Yep, all done!" she answered. Her arms muscles were achy and shaking and a small headache was beginning to grow, but Charlie had never felt so satisfied. Something about working with her hands had helped her relax, and it distracted her long enough to clear her mind and set herself back on the track she wanted to be on. Let Khan try to manipulate them; they were ready for whatever the augment had planned. She was only jealous she hadn't thought of it herself.
Nodding toward a doctor wheeling one of the last cryotubes to sickbay, McCoy made his way to her, surveying the little bit of work left. "Seventy-two photon torpedoes reassembled in ten minutes. Got to be a record," he said as he moved closer, shaking his head. "I'm going to finish up everything here. Head back up to the bridge and tell Odysseus that his Trojan Horse is ready. Signal me when you want these monstrosities activated."
Charlie smirked at the nickname. "Alright, Patroclus," she teased as she saluted and her grin widened as McCoy sneered at the nickname. "I'll go inform our fearless leader that our weapons of mass destruction are raring to go."
McCoy rolled his eyes as Charlie headed back to the bridge. As she walked, she considered what the doctor had said before. She had put too much pressure on Jim, and her own abilities to fix everything. Their lives had been intense for the last few months, filled with intrigue, misgiving and loss, which pulled hard on both of them. She needed to trust him again and give Jim the opportunity to do what he does best.
Jim was smart, a hell of a lot smarter than her, and he had years of experience with the way the world now worked. She was outside her element in every way, completely ill-equipped for the challenges that awaited her, and it wasn't Jim's fault she was unprepared. She prayed that they would someday be able to return to a sense of carefreeness, that this battle would end quickly and peacefully and she could go back to her life: a life onboard the Enterprise with Jim and the rest of the crew. She could almost taste the end.
The doors to the bridge opened with a silent hiss as Charlie stepped through. Surveying the relative calm, she noticed the commander speaking to Sulu in hushed tones.
"The cryotubes have been removed, Sir," she called, gaining his attention as she leap down the stairs and began walking towards him. "Everything is set and ready to go." She paused, noticing the tense stance of the Vulcan, and the way his brows drew together. "What's wrong?"
"We can't locate the captain," Spock said.
"What do you mean—?"
Charlie's question was interrupted when the view screen came online and very distinctive groan was heard. Next Jim's bloody face was thrust onscreen, his arm wrenched behind his back and a phaser shoved into the back of his head. The one holding the weapon was none other than Khan, the augment's glare calm and firm.
"I'm going to make this very simple for you," he ordered, shoving the barrel of the phaser further into Jim's skull.
"Captain!"
"Jim!"
Charlie couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. She froze next to the command chair, her mouth agape in surprise. Jim's face was already turning purple from fresh bruises, and there were new cuts that dripped dark blood.
"Your crew for my crew," Khan commanded.
"You betrayed us," Spock declared.
"Oh, you are smart, Mr. Spock."
"You son of a bitch!" Charlie spat her vision rimmed with red. Her fists clenched at her side as she imagined connecting with Khan's face. She flashed back to the dark, humid corridors of a Klingon vessel and the moment a spear was thrust into her hands, remembering the way she could compartmentalize her feelings of terror and rage. She had had enough. It was now her time to be strong, to be the savior, and she was not going to let that man do anything to Jim. Not when they were so close to freedom.
"Charlie," Jim groaned. "Don't . . ."
Khan reared up and smashed the phaser into the back of Jim's head, the captain collapsing to floor with a loud groan of pain. Khan, meanwhile, appeared as if he was discussing the weather when his sharp eyes locked onto Charlie who had her hand raised as if she could stop the assault.
"Ah, yes, Charlotte," he droned, straightening his spine. "I'm glad you could join us. Saved Mr. Spock the task of calling for you. I want you to see this."
"See what?" she hissed, dropping her arm. "A deranged, sociopath with a superiority complex holding my captain and my ship at ransom? No thank you."
"Not ransom. This is merely a trade."
Charlie snorted. "This isn't a trade; it's a goddamned hostage situation."
Khan smirked. "Call it what you like, but you have something I want, and I have something of yours." He gestured to his feet and then indicated behind him where the blonde head of Carol Marcus could be seen. "Your father and I made a similar deal once."
"Listen here you good-for-nothing piece of shit," Charlie barked, her anger causing her to be reckless as she pointed her finger at the augment like a mother to a disobedient child. "I don't care about whatever deal you had with my father. We will not negotiate with terrorists. Ever."
Khan laughed, the humor in his eyes was dark and menacing. "Now where have I heard that before? Oh that's right, your father used that against me before I ordered seven hundred of his troops executed."
"My father has nothing to do with this. The minute you attacked Jim, you forfeited the deal we made in sickbay."
"And what deal was that?" Khan barked. "I would aid your captain in exchange for what? The protection of my crew? Your captain couldn't even protect himself. I had to get him here, I navigated them through this maze and what did he give me? A pathetic attempt at a stun and proving he is just as I explained to you, Charlotte. The next Marcus."
"You're wrong," Charlie argued. "Jim is nothing like him. He asked you to help and you volunteered. He probably stunned your ass for the same reason I would. You're a murder, an egotistical maniac who only cares for seventy-two frozen men and women rather than the other billions of lives down on that planet. So don't you dare put the blame on him."
Khan smirked again. "Well you do put things eloquently. I had an easier time with the general."
"And look where that got you," she growled. "An ice box and a one way ticket to exile."
Khan shook his head as Spock and Sulu glanced towards each other. "Careful. That temper of yours will get you into trouble someday. Let's not have you as the one to run negotiations, Charlotte; too much of your father in you."
Her eyes narrowed as Spock came to stand by her side, his hand reaching up to pull her back and warn her to calm down. With a sharp glance toward the Vulcan, she spat at Khan, "I am nothing like him."
"You're more like him than you realize. Now Mr. Spock, give me my crew."
"And what will you do when you get them?" he asked, turning to address the man on the screen.
"Continue the work we were doing before we were banished."
"Which as I understand it involves the mass genocide of any being you find to be less than superior. Am I right, Ensign?" Spock questioned, turning to Charlie.
"Spot on there, Commander," she sneered, glaring at Khan. "I told Jim not to trust you."
"Yes, you're so smart, aren't you Charlotte?" Khan snarled. "Relying on that pathetic family oath to keep your withering existence meaningful. You think you're the clever one, the pride of the family because you can spot the obvious. Your father was soldier, he was the hero you erroneously believe yourself to be, and the blatant daddy issues you exhibit are as boring as they are cliché. With one word, one phrase I can destroy you, Charlotte. You think so highly of yourself, of your care for others, yet look who is here, lying at my feet. You are a pathetic excuse for human, especially one so inferior. And what about you, Mr. Spock?" Khan turned his attention to the First Officer as Charlie forcefully tried to keep a reign on her temper. The only restraint that kept her from lashing out was the man groaning off-screen. "Shall I destroy you, too? Or will you give me what I want?"
Spock paused, weighing his options and like Charlie, finding them very limited. "We have no transporter capabilities."
"Fortunately mine are perfectly functional. Drop your shields."
"Don't trust him, Sir," Charlie reasoned quietly. "He's already betrayed us once."
"If I do so, I have no guarantee that you will not destroy the Enterprise," he challenged.
"Well, let's play this out logically then, Mr. Spock," Khan sneered, impatient. "Firstly, I will kill your Captain to demonstrate my resolve. Then if yours holds, I will have no choice but to kill you and your entire crew."
"If you destroy our ship, you'll also destroy your own people," Charlie barked.
"Your crew requires oxygen to survive, mine does not," Khan snapped back. "I will target your life support systems located behind the aft nacelle. And after every single person aboard your ship suffocates, I will walk over your cold corpses to recover my people." He paused, his resolve like granite and Charlie knew that it was time to act. "Now, shall we begin?"
Charlie turned to Spock and nodded. They had no choice, but they were prepared. It was exactly as Spock Prime predicted.
"Lower shields," Spock ordered. With a few deft strokes of his fingers, Sulu pulled down the last trace of the Enterprise's defense systems just as Charlie sent a written communication to McCoy with one word. Now.
"A wise choice, Mr. Spock," Khan said. Rearing back, he kicked Jim as hard as he could, the captain emitting a loud bark of pain before turning to head to one of Vengeance's command stations.
"Stop!" Charlie shouted, wishing she could put herself between Khan and Jim as her captain began coughing violently. "Don't hurt him!"
"I see all seventy-two torpedoes are still in their tubes," Khan added ignoring her as he scanned the ship. "If they're not mine, Commander, I will know it."
Spock couldn't cover the insult as he grounded out, "Vulcans do not lie. The torpedoes are yours."
Sulu glanced over his shoulder and nodded once. Khan had started the transporter sequence for the torpedoes.
"Thank you, Mr. Spock." Khan sound genuinely grateful to the commander for surrendering his crew. It was sincere enough that Charlie almost regretted what was coming. Almost.
"I have fulfilled your terms," Spock commanded once the transfer was complete. "Now fulfill mine."
"Give us Jim back!" Charlie ordered, as firmly as she dared.
"Well, Kirk," Khan purred as he took a seat in the command chair, sending a smirk towards her and Spock. Charlie vaguely wondered where Marcus was, but given what Khan did to Jim who was allied with him, she didn't think Marcus ended up surviving the confrontation with Khan. "It seems apt to return you to your crew, and that little hellion of yours. After all, no ship should go down without her captain."
The implication sent Charlie running towards the view screen as the white lights of the transporter lit up the sharp cheekbones of the mass murder. "You bastard!" she hollered. "I knew my father should have killed you when he had the chance. It was a mistake to let you live, a mistake I will be hard pressed to forget."
"Unfortunately you will not have the opportunity, Charlotte," Khan remarked offhandedly. "Give my regards to your dear daddy when you see him." The proximity alert began to sound, its high pitch whine as annoying as it was distressing.
"He has locking phasers on us, sir," Sulu panicked, throwing the shields up as the first projectiles were launched at them.
The bridge shook by the force of the explosions, the amount of damage the Enterprise suffered was intense and terrifying. A combination of torpedoes and phaser blasts were focused on the starboard side of the ship, the engineering and weapons bays the main targets as more of the Enterprise and her crew were launched into orbit around the moon.
"Where are the shields?!" Charlie blasted.
"Shields at six percent!" Sulu shouted above the din. A highlight of the shield strength on the main view screen was ominous as red bars of damage increased, the red alerts continuing to blare their warning as the lights flashed.
"Wonderful," Charlie sighed.
"The torpedoes, how much time, Ensign?" Spock asked.
Charlie glanced down at the watch on her wrist, barely able to keep standing as the ship took another huge volley of fire. "Twelve seconds, sir!"
Initiating the ship wide alert, Spock ordered, "Crew of the Enterprise, prepare for imminent proximity detonation."
Within seconds, a ginormous blast of orange fire burst from the hull of the Vengeance, tearing an enormous hole along the side of the ship. The fire radiated upwards, knocking out its warp and stabilizing functions. The orange fire appeared to reach all the way to the bridge, the strength of the photon torpedoes unmatched by any the Enterprise could have fired.
"Sir, the weapons have been knocked out," Sulu said once the shockwave passed and they began getting readings from the other ship. "Not bad, Commander."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," he acknowledged as the ship stilled. Charlie heaved a great sigh as she turned away, taking a few slow steps onto the upper bridge as she ran a shaking hand under her bangs. They had done it. Jim, Scotty and Carol were safe aboard the ship somewhere below her feet, while Khan and Marcus would no longer plague them.
"Ensign," Spock called, spinning his chair towards her.
"Yes, Commander?" she voiced, her hand on the railing to steady herself as her adrenaline faded and the nerves from the last twenty-four hours kicked in.
"Good work."
Charlie smiled, the gratitude directed at Spock more than she had ever felt towards the Vulcan. Her eyes wrinkled and her shoulders sagged in relief.
"Thank you, Sir. I—"
Charlie was cut off as the lights died, the bridge falling into complete darkness with only the lights of the stars illuminating the crew. The ship began to tilt to the side, Charlie stumbling as she gripped the bannister harder, trying to keep herself upright.
"Sir, the central power grid is failing!" a crewmember said, the urgency of the problem not lost on Charlie.
"Switch to auxiliary power," Spock ordered. Charlie pulled her way across to an empty station, throwing in her access code and pulling up the energy specs of the ship.
"The auxiliary power is failing too!" she shouted. As the ship titled more, the bridge spun around, the blue, green, and white kaleidoscope of Earth filling the screen.
"Commander, our ship is caught in to Earth's gravity," Sulu said.
"Can we stop?"
The helmsman paused. "I can't do anything."
"Oh hell no," Charlie growled, spinning back towards her station. "We are not going to die today." Snapping on as many systems as she could, she began manipulating the energy pathways, trying to find a way around the damaged coils that seemed to roadblock their main systems. She tried to change the starboard energy conduits near the dilithium chamber to bypass through the bridge, giving the computers enough power to then correct the other neural networks of the starship, but the amount of energy from the warp chamber was almost nonexistent. At the same time, the ship shook from another explosion, only this one was inward by disrupted coolant systems causing arrays to overheat.
"Dammit," she growled seeing nothing but a tangled mess of wires and energy fields that went nowhere. She tried another idea of hacking into the central power grid from the bridge to direct solid bursts of energy to each other main systems in a cycle, but there wasn't enough stored to do much more than keep life support working. "I can't change the energy pathways, Spock!" Charlie updated trying to keep calm from the dismal readings in front of her. "There are too many disconnections. There's no clear path."
"Sound evacuation to all decks."
"What?" Charlie gasped, snapping her head to the Vulcan.
"Do it!" Spock snapped, the lieutenant at the station behind him sounding the alarm as Spock turned to the crew. "As acting Captain I order you to abandon this ship." With a press of a button, a five-point safety harness secured itself around his frame, bolting him to the command chair. "I will remain behind and divert all power to life support and evacuation shuttle bays." No one said a word, or made any movement to indicate they were going to follow his orders. "I order you to abandon this ship!"
"All due respect, Commander, but we're not going anywhere," Sulu said before activating his own harness, the others seated following suit.
"Cor Unum, Via Una," Charlie proclaimed, catching the commander's eye. "We're in this together or not at all. We're family, Spock. All of us."
She hit the same switch and felt the thick, black binding draw across her shoulders and pull her against the chair. Spock dipped his head in her direction, acknowledging that she and the crew around her would stay with their commander. The loyalty on the Enterprise was something Charlie knew she would remember until the day she died.
The ship began spinning, the sensation similar to the loop of a roller-coaster and Charlie had to force down the bile that rose in her throat as the ship completed its turn.
Once they were centered, Charlie turned back to her monitor, the readings forcing her nausea to rise again. "Auxiliary systems are at five percent, Commander," she said, her wide eyes turning to Spock. "It's not going to last much longer."
"Can you override the main systems and divert the power?" Sulu called to Charlie.
"I'll try." As she pulled up the specs again, the ship listed to the side and Charlie gripped her station to stop from falling, feeling as if she were about to do a somersault from her chair. The only thing keeping her steady was the harness strapped across her chest and her fingers clenched on the monitor.
"Gravity systems are failing!" Spock announced when the listing wasn't corrected.
"Hold on. Hold on!"
"I am holding on," Charlie growled, her arm muscles straining to keep her upright even with the harness. Piece of the bridge that had broken off during the battle with Marcus's ship began flying around, one particularly sharp edge catching Charlie's cheek as it sailed past. She hissed from the contact, reaching up to feel the puffy ridge of irritated skin and the sticky blood that came with it.
"Awesome," she muttered, glaring at the red smear on her fingertips. Once the ship settled upright again, Charlie checked what was left of the remaining power grid, and it was bleak. They were falling towards Earth and there wasn't enough auxiliary power to save them.
As the force from the downward pull of Earth's gravity drew them closer to the atmosphere, giant cracks and cervices slithered through the bridge. It was as if the gravity of Earth tried to tear apart the Enterprise before she had even begun her decent to the surface. Charlie glanced up as one giant crack formed above her, wincing as the force shattered the glass monitor above her head.
"Emergency power at fifteen percent and dropping!" Darwin shouted from her station as hull integrity followed suit.
"Ensign, is there any point where the energy level is remain steady?" Spock shouted.
Shaking her head to remove as much of the particles as possible, Charlie check her marginally functional computer. "No, Sir," she complained. "It's as if our generators aren't running!"
"We don't have generators!" Sulu snapped.
"Whatever, you know what I mean!" Charlie countered. "The energy conduits don't have the free flowing energy like before. No station is receiving full power."
The ship began to flip again, the G-forces increasing with each spin. Gritting her teeth, Charlie remembered when her brother had to go through with human centrifuge training and the types of affects gravitation force could have on the human body. While she wasn't quiet to the tunnel effect, she as beginning to see black spots pop up in her vision. Trying to keep her panic at bay, Charlie began coughing, trying to force the blood back into her brain why the centrifugal force of the falling starship pulled it away. She noticed others began following her lead, most notably Sulu who after several huffs was able to focus back on his station.
"How long until re-entry?" Spock asked once they were upright.
"Five minutes," Darwin answered.
An alert popped up on Charlie's screen and her eye's widened from what she was seeing. "Commander! The shuttles are falling out of their ports! The crew can't evacuate."
"Mr. Sulu, divert every remaining power to stabilizers."
"I'm doing what I can, Sir. Doing what I can!"
"Sulu, I've redirected the energy conduit from the bioengineering labs," Charlie called, her fingers clumsily flying across her console. "It's only point six percent but—"
"If you can pull from A&A, Stellar Cartography, and the Hydroponics Bays—"
"We might have enough!" they finished together.
"Quick, Charlie!" Sulu ordered. "If don't get power and shields back online, we're gonna be incinerated on re-entry."
"I'm working as quickly as I can!" Her fingers flew as she directed the tiny amounts of power to the stabilizers, attempted to form a stable base for the evacuation shuttles. She felt as a trickle of sweat slid down her back in a cold rivulet, her gaze focused on the console as she brushed a hand over her damp skin.
"We're entering the atmosphere!" Sulu shouted.
"Brace for re-entry!" Spock ordered.
The ship continued to fall, and Charlie felt her heart rise with the movement of the ship. She closed her eyes once her job was done, having run out of ideas and avenues to aid Sulu in restarting the stabilizers. She had a feeling that unless a miracle occurred, they were going to crash into the Earth's surface if they didn't burn up in the atmosphere first. The ship began to shake like a rattle in a baby's hand, the momentum knocking her teeth together even as she clenched them with all her strength. Her hands ached from the force of her fingers gripping the console, and she began to hyperventilate from the sheer panic of falling without a parachute.
They were going to die; they were going to die and she never got to tell Jim she was sorry. She would never again tell him she loved him, of where she really came from, and how she knew so much. This time her life did flash before her eyes. She saw her brother and sister in those few carefree moments when they were allowed to be children. She watched through her first love and the heartache of that loss, the thrill and tiny stab of fear when she was accepted to Bristol, the way she had overdressed in her first meeting with Kate and Philippa. Everything, the little events and the big ones, her achievements and her failures, all rolled before her eyes like a movie reel as the Enterprise made her way to her inevitable demise.
The last thing Charlie could think of was the regret at never becoming the person she wanted to be. Never becoming the mother of children who felt the love of a parent, not the disappointment of an officer. Never joining the ranks of Starfleet and being given her first assignment. Never finding that new world, that new species, that new universe where no one had gone before. Her life was ending before it had begun and she mourned for the person she would never be.
As the ship shook harder, Charlie flinched and clenched every muscle in her body on instinct, waiting as they fell through the clouds for that moment when solid ground met starship. Instead of contact, the lights on bridge sprung back to life, washing the command center in that same familiar blue.
"Warp core is back online!" Sulu shouted, Charlie snapping her eyes open and seeing the reading of full power restored to all the main departments.
"Maximum thrusters, Mr. Sulu," Spock ordered just as they fell through stratus clouds in the lower atmosphere.
"Thrusters at maximum! Standby! Standby!"
Like the moment and elevator stops its decent, the Enterprise slowed to a stop as the main thrusters surged on, bursting through the clouds as it rose further into the air. The light from the sun shone into the now calm bridge, the rays bouncing off the glass and creating bright flares of sparkling warmth. The cheers on the bridge were loudest Charlie had ever heard, and she couldn't stop that same shout of joy when she realized they were safe.
"Shields restored," a lieutenant called, his sharp face split in a wide grin.
"Power's back online, Commander," Charlie added, her smile infectious as the shook hands with those around her, everyone embracing the exhilaration at being alive.
With a few key strokes, Sulu relaxed against the back of his chair. "Mr. Spock, altitude stabilizing."
"It's a miracle," Darwin praised.
Spock paused and released his harness, his head tilting in that confused way when something illogical occurred. "There are no such things," he said, his eyes narrowed in confusion.
Just then, a hailing frequency chimed in, Spock imitating the feed from his command chair.
"Engineering to Bridge, Mr. Spock."
"Mr. Scott." The question in Spock's tone caught Charlie's attention, her focus now on the call from their chief engineer.
"Sir, you and the lass better get down here. Better hurry."
Charlie's heart dropped.
I'm curious. I'm not getting as many reviews as I did by this point in Cor Unum. Is there something I'm doing wrong you all don't like? I'm trying to make the story as realistic as possible as if Charlie were there. I honestly don't bite, I won't withhold chapters because of bad reviews and I want to get better with my writing so if there's a problem (or not who knows?) I would gladly like to know.
K solicitation of reviews is now over