Author's Note: Followers! I updated this story, but the new chapter is actually the Prologue. Chapter 2 should be in later this week.
- 1 -
Space is an abyss to most humans. All they see is cold and empty nothingness, wrapped within a shawl of enigma. Poets don't tend to write about the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere… flowers and beauty holds more interest than suffocating darkness.
But she didn't blame them. It was… unusual to love the power of supernova more than the fiction of love. Maybe that was why her father brought her to the rings of Saturn. This was, after all, possibly the mostly beautiful planet in the entire solar system...
"Carol," her father snapped, pulling her from these thoughts and back into the uneasy silence of the dimly lit room.
Her eyes darted from the hem of her blue uniform to the eyes of one of Starfleet's most notorious Admirals. "I'm sorry." she replied hastily.
"Your mother had that same far-off look." he sighed, and it would have convinced anyone else that he was fondly remembering his wife. Carol knew it wasn't a compliment even before he added, "A severe handicap… even for a historian like her. For you, it's completely unacceptable."
She squirmed discreetly in her chair. The whimsical Marla McGivers had passed on very little of her personality to her daughter, but Carol made it a point to give her talent and passion respect where it was due. Unlike the particularly devious lung cancer had claimed her mother in a matter of days, the Admiral suffered from a disease that slowly ate away every shred of decency left within him. She tried to stall its progress by excelling in her studies, but hadn't made much progress.
Not until being invited here by none other than the Admiral himself.
"I have to say, I was surprised when I found out you were training to become a weapons specialist." He remarked. "Certain people made a point to tell me that you were probably the best the Academy had to offer."
This was it –the chance she'd been working for. Praying for.
"I thought that I could help you with your research." She said cautiously, studying his eyes for signs of anger. She wasn't supposed to know anything about her father's discreet dealings with scientists that promised him starships and weapons that most people could scarcely imagine. Until recently, she'd been at the vicious end of the rage that followed when they didn't deliver the tools of Armageddon to him.
"You have Marcus blood in you, that's for sure." He said with a wry grin. Probably the only one not in the long list of reactions she might have expected.
"So I can help you?" she pressed, doing a poor job in masking her excitement.
The sound of his seat being pushed back made her wince, though not nearly as much as the realization that he was now standing and moving towards her. "A few months ago, I came across someone who's making almost all my projects a reality. I promised him something in return for his promotion, but I get the feeling that he's doesn't trust me..."
Carol's lips twitched unconsciously. She'd witnessed this man break many vows… it was hard to imagine how many promises he'd broken outside of his family.
"Some of the details of his work are too technical for me to understand, so I essentially have a man who may or may not be loyal with his hands on some of the most dangerous equipment in the galaxy. I'm asking you this, Carol," His voice became low as he reached her side, kneeling so that their gazes were level. "Can you ensure that my life's work is accomplished?"
No longer did she believe that fortune had favored her. In fact, Carol determined that she was suddenly in a very, very bad situation.
"I can work alongside him and report on his progress." She offered, raising her eyebrows hopefully.
"That's not what I am asking." The Admiral nearly shouted, a nerve obviously tapped. "He's not an ordinary man that can be… beguiled by a clever woman. Your task isn't to work with him; it's to keep him in line."
This wasn't what she wanted. She knew her way around a phaser and a photon torpedo, but this sort of psychological warfare was beyond her training. Rejecting her father's request was the only reasonable solution.
But Carol turned to face him bodily. In a voice that was hollow of any sort of emotion, she answered, "I won't disappoint you."
"That's my girl." Beamed the Admiral, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder in a surprising display of affection. "I'll take you to meet him right now."
"I – I think it would be wiser if I go alone. Having my father escort me to this first meeting would send a weak impression. " She admitted, following him to the door.
After some internal debate, the Admiral agreed, "Take the elevator to Engineering Three and he'll be the only one with his hands on the missiles. Guards those things like a dog..."
Within the span of a few seconds, she was standing alone in the hallway, in no particular rush to meet the person that made the stoic Admiral anxious. While first impressions were of no small significance in her mission, the true reason behind sending him away was for the opportunity to think clearly. Her father's presence was a miasma of spiteful tension that she was happy to be rid of.
The elevator's descent was oddly soothing. Gaining a new-found sense of confidence, she stepped onto the Engineering floor and spotted her target with an electron beam welder and metallic mask. The missile that her father had referred to was barely more than an unpainted, hollow shell with several different compartments. The blueprints were pinned to column some feet away from where he was standing.
"Commander Harrison!" Carol yelled, doubting that her voice would reach him over the din of his equipment. Her eyes fell on the blueprints and, fascinated by their intricacy, she began processing the elaborate design. In her years at the Academy, she'd rarely come across weapon plans that made her mind this hungry. She didn't even notice the darkly dressed figure that hovered only inches behind her until he coughed, causing her to nearly leap out of her skin.
"I'm sorry – I was just…" she drifted off, noticing very quickly that he didn't care for her excuses. The Admiral had warned her of his skill, and emphatically stated not to get caught off guard. But for a few seconds, she could only stare at the man with feelings that she couldn't quite describe.
Actually, she could describe them as… inappropriate.
"You called for me, Cadet?" he grumbled sternly.
There is no way I'll be handed this opportunity again, she reminded herself. Calmly, she collected her insecurities, placed them in corner of her mind, and shot them all dead.
"I've been assigned to your project by Admiral Marcus." She replied sharply, handing him her commission tablet.
Harrison's gaze went from her face, where they roamed for a moment, testing the extent of her faux confidence, to the tablet, and then back to her unyielding gaze.
"The Admiral does not seem the nepotistic sort." He said, enunciating every syllable far too naturally. "You may be able to contribute to his efforts, but it will not be with me."
Dumbstruck, Carol unwillingly took back the tablet as it was shoved into her arms, protesting, "But I was ordered to assist you."
"Don't lie to me." Said Harrison, arching his head impatiently. "I know why you're here. Father needs a better pair of eyes watching me. I'll admit that this is a marked improvement over the last sweaty beast he sent to peer over my shoulder," he mused, indicating her body with an up-and-down wave of his hand. "But I will not allow it again."
He turned to leave, and when she began to follow him, he spun around furiously. Gripping both of her shoulders in what could have been vices instead of hands he drawled, "Find another way to spend your time or the Admiral will know that I sent you way for being incompetent."
"Let me ask one question." She practically sputtered the words as a ball of stress built up in her stomach. "One question, and I'll tell my father whatever you want me to tell him."
Carol felt him analyze her again, his gaze peering straight through her flesh and bone and down into her core. What he saw there was a raw curiosity that drove her to Saturn's rings in the first place.
"Fine." He said with distaste.
"I went over the blueprints for the missile design." She started quickly, fearing he'd change his mind. "It's quite brilliant, but horrendously wasteful. It wasn't directly stated, but it's obvious that the fission core will be wired to eight fuel sources that are given nearly five times as much space in the rocket's core as actually needed." She skirted around him, stepping right up to the unfinished fuselage. "Is there a reason for that? I mean, you could practically fit an entire person in all the extra room."
Carol demonstrated her point by walking into the empty body of the missile, catching only the tail end of an expression of sheer horror that crossed the Commander's face at the mention of the word person. She assumed it was because a seasoned Starfleet officer had just made a mistake that a girl fresh from the Academy managed to see. It was a difficult task, but she managed to contain her smile to just a corner of her mouth.
"The propellant is a highly efficient substance that I invented myself," he told her evenly. "And it requires exactly that amount of space to expand safely in its gas phase."
"Ah," Carol replied airily, her mind buzzing with chemical equations. "A high pressure environment might make fuel consumption more constant, I suppose. Excuse a cadet's ignorance, sir." At this point, she would have slipped out of the hollow fuselage and walked as far away from this man as she could. It even crossed her mind to commandeer a vessel and spend the rest of her years hiding from her father's wrath in a closet somewhere in China. But there was something blocking her path.
Someone, that is.
Slowly, he reached towards her. From almost anyone else, it would have seemed like an innocuous gesture, but this man – if he wasn't some kind of half-Vulcan – was definitely not like anyone else. She sensed he was dangerous, but a part of her knew there was no use intercepting the hand that eventually cupped the side of her head.
"Commander, what are…?" she almost ventured to ask, before a slight tug on her hair made her forget to breathe.
"Why do you wear your hair in such an uncomplimentary fashion?" Harrison's eyes narrowed as he brought his other hand to the back of her head.
"It's… it's comfortable." She informed, attempting to remove the fingertips entwined in her hair. He ignored her completely, removing the band that kept her blonde locks at bay before casting it aside.
Carol felt like an object. Handled without permission, and changed without consent. She blinked up at him, a frozen tempest building up in her azure eyes. But the fury in her heart could not survive against the sadness in his own cold, solemn expression.
"It suits you like this." He said softly, letting the loose strands of golden hair seep through his fingers. When he finally stepped away, Carol inhaled as though the man's presence had created some sort of vacuum. She'd been affected by people before – powerful men and women whose words could almost shatter bone. But Harrison… there was a magnetism around him. A sheer force of will that seemed almost unnatural.
There was silence as she emerged from the fuselage. She didn't stop to salute or even glance at him, but instead walked as fast as possible towards the exit.
"Tomorrow," came Harrison's voice. Carol stopped dead in her tracks, her heart beating fast for reasons that had nothing to do with the pace of her escape. "We shall begin."
Author's Note:
Well, this just had to be written. I had no idea going into the theater that Benedict was going to be The freaking Khan. He is hands down my favorite villain. Like Ahab and King Lear and darkness all rolled into one man.
If you've seen Space Seed, the plot of this story likely makes more sense to you, but Space Seed is definitely not necessary to understanding any of what is going to happen. In that episode, Marla McGivers - who I've made Carol's mother in this timeline - becomes Khan's wife. I thought it was tragically romantic for a genocidal maniac to fall for a simple earth historian. If you have seen it and wonder why Carol's hair is blonde instead of red, just remember that Khan was originally Indian (with the tan skin and everything) and not British. I enjoyed both actors a great deal, and was thrilled to see Benedict on the big screen again.
Please review if you have a chance. I also have a tumblr where this will be posted eventually.