Chapter 32- Cover Up

Upon Koth's insistence, Jim and Spock followed him down to the engine rooms to find out what exactly had transpired. As Jim slowly climbed down the ladders, sweat began to form on his forehead and he was wondering if the ship had drifted too close to a neighboring star system not too far away. He sincerely hoped not since that system was in Romulan airspace and contained a colony and a prison planet where they mined pergium, a radioactive element that was fairly rare but commonly used for energy in reactors. If he were sitting comfortably in his captain's chair on the Enterprise, he might not have worried so much since the ship's shields would protect him from the intense heat and radioactivity of the mines. But as it was, he was crawling around in a disabled, rusty deathtrap with absolutely no defenses. Spock for one seemed happy as a clam with the soaring temperatures and he might have smiled if he could actually bring himself to, which Jim found irritating. He was convinced the man could live comfortably on the surface of the sun.

When all had made it down the ladders, the air became heavy with the smell of burnt wire and singed flesh. Combined with the heat and sweat of the others, it was nauseating but the sight of the still smoldering corpse of the Klingon engineer laying on the floor by the power station was even worse. Koth stood over the body of his crewmate, but didn't seem overly upset by the tragedy to the relief of Peter, McCoy and Scotty. They stood quietly trying not to think about what they had just witnessed only seconds before.

Peter had considerable difficulty in convincing the man that Sylar was not in any way special- he clung to his belief that the red shirted man was a god of some sort with such tenacity that Peter wanted to scream in frustration. Sensing the impending arrival of the command staff, he reluctantly turned to Sylar and admitted defeat with a simple lowering of his eyes. With absolutely no expression to indicate his thoughts, Sylar went to work by removing the rods and sending them clattering to the floor while he held the man where he was. With one quick motion he flipped the man over and made a neat incision in the back of his neck to sever the brain stem in order to ensure a quick and explainable death before placing him by the machine and covering most of the puncture wounds by blasting him with a stream of electricity. Unfortunately he gave it a bit too much effort and ended up catching him on fire, but McCoy quickly put it out by beating on him just as Koth's boots appeared down the ladder.

Peter felt as though it was all his fault and it made him sick to watch Sylar so ruthlessly end a life- a life he could have saved if he could have been better at Parkman's ability. He was complicit in his death and he felt guilty for helping cover it up even though he knew that there really were no other options. Maybe if he just tried harder it would have worked. He subconsciously wiped at his nose and paused when he noticed blood on his fingers. He momentarily felt dizzy, but he remained steady on his feet and convinced himself that it was from the heat. He just needed to drink more water…or something.

"It was an unfortunate accident. He was working on the power station when it short circuited, apparently electrocuting him." Sylar calmly reasoned in a low voice. Almost as an afterthought he nodded at Jim and quickly added, "Sir." He hated even pretending that Jim was his superior, but he had to play the part perfectly if he was going to be convincing.

Jim nodded and had to restrain himself from covering his mouth to keep from gagging. To be in such a confined space with a seared Klingon was more than he bargained for. He almost believed Sylar until he was tipped off by the way McCoy was frowning down at the victim. Peter looked vaguely uncomfortable as well, but he didn't know him well enough to say that it was an abnormal reaction for him. But he knew Bones in and out and that look plainly told him that something was rotten in Denmark- that was the same look he always got when he either lost a patient he fought incredibly hard for or the times when his patients never had a chance. Jim thoughtfully bit his lip when he noticed the doctor's clothes were not covered in soot or blood which meant he didn't even try to save him and that was unlike the doctor he knew.

Koth, on the other hand, bought Sylar's explanation hook, line, and sinker. After all, all indications were he died just as the man said he did, his burns and random injuries were proof of an accidental explosion. He trusted the young engineer because he felt the man's warrior spirit and that was something he could identify with, and if he was with Starfleet it meant he was also honorable. He had no reason to challenge him, which left him with only the disposal of the body and the tricky question of how to find out if they found the Romulan.

"Please leave us." Koth growled feigning distress over the death of his engineer. "I wish to perform the ritual of the dead in private."

After all had gone, he strode over to the box and demanded, "Did you speak to them? Do they know of you?" His captive was startled by his presence and looked back at him in a confused and questioning manner. Koth studied him closely and began to wonder if he was starting to suffer ill effects from the heat- he appeared in a daze and unsure of his surroundings. He made a note to provide more water and perhaps a little more food- although the Romulan wasn't really eating what he did get- because he couldn't afford to have him die in transit. Satisfied that his secret was still safe, he snarled at his prisoner and chuckled at the bewildered look he got as a response. The slight fear in his ward's eyes was greatly pleasing to him.

After he turned away, Mendak's face slowly began to harden into a determined glare and he smirked to himself in the darkness.

The temperature above deck was at least somewhat cooler and Jim sat down along the wall next to McCoy facing Sylar, Peter and Spock on the other side of the hallway. Scotty paced back and forth because he just couldn't bring himself to relax after all he had just witnessed. He frantically hoped the pacing would help push the memories out of his mind- at least for the time being so he could still do his job. He simply couldn't afford to have a mental breakdown now. He repeated to himself that if he could survive being marooned on Delta Vega for years with nothing but ice monsters and Keenser to keep him company, he could get through this. He wanted to ask Peter to do the mind thing on him to make him forget, but he wasn't looking to keen at the moment as he sat slumped against the wall like a discarded action figure with traces of blood around his nose.

Jim watched Scotty for a minute or so until he decided it was making him nervous, so he turned to his friend and the disgusted, world weary look on his face concerned him. The last time he saw that face was when he first met him on the shuttle to the Academy when he more or less told him he had nothing left to lose. "Hey." Jim whispered as he elbowed the doctor lightly in the ribs. McCoy snarled at him, but gave up and this only deepened his concern. Bones never gave up that easy. He wondered what went on down there to rip his very soul out and he instinctively glanced across the hall at Sylar.

Sylar felt the captain's eyes piercing him and he slowly raised his own to return the glare from under his dark eyebrows. From the decks below, Koth let out an eerie howl of mourning that reverberated off the walls and sent chills up the spines of all who could hear it.

"What do you think they will do?" Mohinder nervously whispered to Matt. He was aware that it was sort of taboo at the moment to speak of current events because they all wanted to keep Nathan calm, but he just couldn't help himself and he figured that if he whispered no one else would hear him break the law.

"How the hell would I know?" Matt shrugged. "I don't know what these people are capable of."

"Can't you read their minds?" He insisted almost desperately.

"Not through a huge TV screen!" Matt laughed as he gestured at the image of the Klingon ship floating in the front of the room. "It's not like I can yell at the TV while I am watching a Colts game and tell Peyton Manning to throw a Hail Mary and actually have him hear me! Christ, man."

"Alright!" Mohinder hissed as he looked around the room hoping no one else heard them. "You don't have to yell at me you know. I swear it is like having you for a roommate again." He groused.

Matt smiled and taunted, "You miss me, I can tell."

"I can assure you that is not the case." Mohinder stated emphatically as he folded his arms in protest.

"Yes you do." He playfully pressed.

"I most certainly do not." Mohinder retorted. "I was just fine in the company of the building's cockroaches before you came along to swill beer and watch your American football." He shook his head and added, "What a ghastly sport."

"Just say the word and I'll move back in." Matt continued.

"I'd rather you not. I just recently asked the cockroaches to return and I even cut a small hole in the bottom of the front door so they can come and go as they please. They are far more polite than you. At least they clean up after themselves." Matt couldn't do anything but laugh at Mohinder's smug smile, but he soon quit when the mood suddenly shifted on the bridge.

"We can't wait any longer," Sulu declared with conviction. "Alert the away team that they are in danger and begin evacuations. The Romulans may be sitting out there and we just can't see them."

"Aye, Sir." Uhura responded sharply. Nathan was relieved that something was finally happening. He was just trying to figure out if he could survive flying through space to get Peter or if his skills as a pilot could transfer well enough to steal a shuttle craft, but now it looked as though they were finally getting their butts in gear and taking the threat seriously. "Enterprise to Captain Kirk. Come in, Captain." She called. "Commander Spock? Do you read me?" She persisted as she quickly manipulated her controls. "No response, Sir."

"Keep trying." Sulu encouraged. "Chekov- are you picking up anything on the scans?"

"Nothing unusual." He reported while Claire looked on. "The away team appears to all be together in an interior passage and they appear to be in good health…more or less…" he glanced nervously at Sulu.

His stomach sank and he slowly asked, "Who is less?"

"It's Peter, Sir." He said as though he were genuinely sorry. "His signal is a little veaker than it vas vhen he left. His witals are fine, so…" He waved his hands in the air as though he were trying to pull an explanation out of the air.

"It is probably interference." Sulu said trying to convince himself more than anyone else. He could feel Nathan's eyes boring a hole in the back of his head. "If his vitals are good, he is fine. There is something wrong with the sensors."

"Aye, Sir." Chekov nodded miserably. It wasn't impossible that the sensors could be off, but even he knew it was highly unlikely. He was just surprised that it wasn't Jim with the messed up signal; amazingly, he seemed to be completely fine and that was almost harder to explain given his track record.

Claire let out a small gasp when like a mirage, a large ship appeared out of nowhere, and then another and yet another, latching onto the Klingon ship with red beams. Sulu almost went pale when he realized he was between a rock and a hard place. The Enterprise could try to deploy its tractor beam as well, but with the ship in such a fragile state, it would likely tear it apart. And now that the beams were attached, the transporters were going to be useless against all the background interference. He might be able to get some kind of signal, but god knows what he would actually end up with on the pad- it was just too risky.

"Shields up." He commanded. It was like the Kobyashi Maru exam all over again. His solution then was to let the Maru crew die, but that wasn't an option this time and this was no simulation. There was nothing he could do but wait and watch and pray that he would do better this time.