A/N: Another lengthy gap between updates. Apologies, but a trip to Las Vegas slowed the process. At this time I'd like to point out that chapter 8 here probably isn't laced with drama, or at least as much as folks would probably want to come to see. I while I wouldn't call it filler, we are still on track for the real meat and potatoes of this fic. I remind all of my current readers and folks just stumbling on my little story that it is a 'slow grow', so we're gunna be here for the long haul. Thank you again for your continued interest as well as your critiques. I'd like to make a special shout out to the 'Guest' who pointed out how heavy handed I was on a particular word of choice. Sometimes you don't know you're doing it until someone points it out! Standard disclaimers, enjoy!
Chapter 8: Prerequisite
All throughout his academy days, there had always been an emphases on not judging a new world with the partiality one might have for their own home planet; it was a concept tied closely to the Prime Directive and one that Kirk did agree with. It did not, however, change the fact that in his mind Triacus was downright dreary. The sky was a dark navy blue even in daylight. The terrain was desert-like but the temperature comfortable enough—rocks and other such outcrops dominated the scenery. No wildlife had been encountered thus far and for the most part things appeared uneventful. In other words, perfect for a precious stone expedition. Back on the Enterprise and before coming to the planet's surface, Kirk had been just fine to let Spock lead his own away team with himself remaining onboard—Jim had no reason to go—but when the Science Officer requested his presence, how could he say no? Well, there was one reason, and presently that one reason had some weird whirling doohickey hovering over his temple. "Bones, seriously," Kirk admonished with genuine aggravation, a nerve somewhere struck by McCoy's over-cautiousness. "Pardon me but I need to know you're not having any adverse reactions to the atmosphere here or to any particulates you might be breathing in. You do still have that rash after all and I'm just trying to make sure nothing horrific happens to you." Usually when Jim complained about things like this, Leonard was able to smart him back into place, but the tone Jim took this time around compelled the doctor to defend his actions in a more subdued manner than he would normally. "All things considered, I should just keep you on the ship until I know this thing of yours clears up—deep space exploration aside ." After this Bone's fell quiet, the sounds of his strange instrument soon the only thing between them. Kirk made a face. "Alright I'm sorry, but just…could you not chase after me with those damn contraptions all the time? You make me nervous!"
While James was bending to the will of his CMO, elsewhere, Spock had his tricorder out searching for what he was hoping to find. On the ship, he had managed to locate a mineral vein that ideally possessed what he had convinced Jim to come Triacus for. Though his scans from the Enterprise could get him close to the underground vein, being directly on the surface was always much better when came to triangulating location. As it was, twenty meters away from his current position, Spock's tricorder detected a definite spike similar to previous readouts back in orbit. Signaling to the geologists, Spock and a small security detail moved toward the spike. Upon reaching their destination, the group of six would come across a natural hole in the ground about five meters wide. One of the geologists shone a light into the hole's mouth, illuminating not much of anything. "No life signs detected," Spock informed as he crouched down, peering inside. "Commander, allow me," one of the security officers offered. Spock looked to him and nodded before stepping back, the man setting himself down in the dirt and scooting inward. The security officer hit bottom about six feet down, the loose earth moving unsteadily beneath his boots. "Well sir," the officer began, shining his own light at his feet before looking up at those gathered above. "Nothing to see h-! The redshirt was promptly cut off when his face was swallowed up by the dark hole he had entered. The entire team was notably startled by the sudden disappearance of their comrade, gasps and involuntary jerks tweaking their limbs. Spock of course remained the most composed, but his alarm was certainly no less. "Baker!" One of the security officers barked even as he clamored into the hole after the other man. "No, descending into the tunnel's mouth without knowing its depth beforehand could prove fatal," Spock would interdict sharply, stopping the other officer before he likely plunged to an early demise. There was a swift intake of breath from the stalled officer as the Commander's logic finally caught up with the man; he barely had time to acknowledge his superior before Spock had produced vial information. "The drop from here to hard surface within the tunnel is approximately 5.3 meters, too far for any of you to free-fall without risking undue injury to yourselves. I have detected a single life sign in the subterranean area below us presumably to be Officer Baker. I will go down after him," Spock dutifully informed, turning brown eyes away from the hole to the officer whom he had stopped. "Please notify Doctor McCoy of the incident as that Officer Baker might have sustained injuries."
"Aye sir," the other officer nodded before leaving to find the Doctor. The third member of the detail watched as the Commander disappeared into the hole, making sure that the two geologists didn't stray too close. Meanwhile Spock, he fell for just under three seconds in total darkness before his own feet found mostly hard rock before swiftly tumbling forward with barely slowed momentum. Ricocheting against unyielding and far from smooth surfaces for many more seconds than the initial free fall, Spock finally felt himself slam to a halt as he came to rest face first on more uneven ground. The Vulcan winced a bit as he pushed himself up onto his knees, for the time being ignoring the pain in his own body to reach for the flashlight he hoped wasn't damaged in the fall. Spock hadn't even begun to retrieve the device when he realized he had no need for it. All around in the cavernous space the FO had tumbled into, the rock and earthen walls emitted their own soft glow. The light itself was not overly bright, but given the expansiveness of the area, it was more than enough light to see without the use of his flashlight.
"Commander," a haggard voice called to Spock's left. It was Baker, and as expected, he appeared worse for the wear. "I'm pretty sure my leg is broken," the man surmised ruefully as Spock drew closer and knelt beside him, noting the blood that stained the side of Baker's face. "Not to worry," the Vulcan assured reaching for his communicator which was already beeping even as he prepared to utilize it. Roughly fifteen minutes after Spock had followed Baker down the hole, the cavern was populated by medical personnel as well as members of the original away team. "Hold still Mister Spock," McCoy directed as he passed a scanner over the Vulcan's head and torso, "you Vulcans may be a hardier bunch but you bleed just like the rest of us if you get banged up enough." Spock opted not to comment. His soreness was already abating and what skin had been broken only amounted to simple abrasions, though admittedly those abrasions were rather numerous. Once satisfied that the Enterprise's First Officer would not spontaneously combust, McCoy moved to oversee the transport of the broken-legged security officer. Spock however would not be alone for long as that Jim had quickly replaced the departed Bones.
"So," Kirk began, his eyes glued to the luminous rock that surrounded them all. "Why is it glowing?"
"I am uncertain Captain; it is a property I am attempting to isolate and identify as we speak," Spock responded, his eyes fastened on his tricorder's readouts. "Initially I suspected the emitted light to be bio-luminescent in nature, but I do not detect any organic signatures in the surrounding bedrock. Though currently it is only an assumption based on limited data, I am willing to postulate that the molecular makeup of the indigenous rock is the agent responsible for its luminosity."
"Glow-in-the-dark rocks?" Jim paraphrased with a grin.
"It seems so."
"…You know that would be totally awesome right?" It was a question framed more as a statement.
"If I am to assume correctly your pattern of thinking Captain, this self-luminescent rock would indeed make a unique setting for Lieutenant Uhura's ring."
"Bingo, instant brownie points."
Spock allowed himself a thin smile. "Provided the rock does not possess any adverse properties as a result of its glow…"
"Agreed. I don't think Uhura would appreciate potential radiation poisoning as an engagement gift."
"I emphatically concur."
"I'll help you pick out a nice one."
Gauze bandages, tissue sealants, antibiotics, disinfectants, splints, creams, ointments and a few pain-killers; the full extent of medical dress in addition to the simple tools that came in a standard aid kit. Fine for scrapes and cuts, but woefully ineffective when placed against the types of injures presented to the small kit. It though was much better than nothing and Aakar worked swiftly with what few but helpful materials the small craft provided. It was terribly cramped with the lot of them all but shoe-horned in there. The shuttle was easily meant to accommodate four comfortably. Six was pushing it. Nine was utterly burdensome, really far too much…especially when one of those nine had a hole the size of a silver half-dollar burned into his lung. It couldn't be helped though. The fact that they had even made it this far was an act of Providence, Khan's careful planning notwithstanding. No doubt now the hunt was on…near and far eyes would be trained to ground and sky for anything that appeared even minutely out of the ordinary.
Unfortunately none of Khan's fugitive crew could truly take the time to appreciate the extent of their leader's elaborate escape plan—little did they know how much Khan had learned from the mistakes made more than a year before. He had strategized differently. Obviously there had been problems given the narrowed margin for success, but the results, serendipitous as they were, could not be denied. Though the crew would not be able to understand at that moment the technology at work, Khan had jerry-rigged, smuggled, and constructed (albeit a small one) a full-scale transporter pad in the near-forgotten bowels of the sewer systems beneath the San Francisco Presidio. With the help of the intuitive program the Augment cornerstone had written should he be rendered less than able to perform the tasks himself, Lilith managed to beam the lot of them to the pre-loaded coordinates Khan had specified…ones that placed them on nearby Angel Island only a stone's throw from the Presidio and Horseshoe Bay respectively. Starfleet no doubt was not so cunning to think any of the escapees opted to remain so close to their headquarters knowing Khan was capable of putting up so much more distance in a hurry. Angel Island was a staging point. Or rather, it was meant to be a staging point. He would have been able to amass all the tools and equipment he needed while giving his people silent refuge until they were fully prepared to leave Earth behind once and for all. Those ambitions however were cut far too short. Instead of seventy-three, there were only nine. Oh what could have been had they not been discovered.
The clothing fit perfectly, the ones Khan had preemptively procured for them; plain and functional in their utility. Though there was no burning need to cover with non-protective gear, it was most welcomed that the group no longer had to run about in only their undergarments. For the moment at least they were afforded some reprieve, yet Khan was restless. Discomfort, as a word, was an understatement to describe what he was feeling. The carefully applied tissue sealant was doing as intended, but was very much so a workaround in lieu of proper treatment. With each new breath coming slightly easier, bronchial tubes were still agitated by the unnatural elements polluting the air in Khan's sturdy but damaged lungs. He coughed and it was more than painful. With a tightlipped grimace, Khan indicated to Aakar with a cant of his head a morphine hypo. A small click and hiss later, the man was sitting up much to Aakar's chagrin. "I implore you not to tax yourself sir, the dressings are flimsy at best," Aakar advised, though his words likely fell on deaf ears. Already on his feet, the crew of the small commandeered shuttle worked with great effort to give their leader as much room as possible as he made his way to the helm. Seated, he began to run system checks, plot courses and key in vectors all while his fellow Augments looked on in silence. "Khan, is there anything you wish us to do?" It was Lilith, hoping to break the spell of uselessness that suddenly fell upon those freshly risen from cryo-sleep. "No," came the clipped and terse reply. While fine to elaborate, the just-sealed hole in his lung and torso barred Khan from lengthy explanations. For now he was focused…there was something of a schedule to be kept. A particular group of cargo ships were due to fly vectors passing right over the dense wooded isle in less than an hour's time. After reviewing a plethora of data streaming in over monitors, Khan found that the soon-to-arrive cargo vessels were as ideal as expected to hide amongst, critical for camouflaging their assent into space. He had to do this right the first time—the next set of cargo vessels wouldn't fly those same vectors for another week, and with Starfleet on high alert, Khan didn't have one hundred and sixty-eight extra hours to spare.
No one spoke. Frequencies and signatures were both scrambled and subdued so that the shuttle's footprints would not be detected. They were running silent and hiding in what was easily plain sight. The largest of the cargo vessels was large enough to hide the stolen craft as it rose through the Earth's atmosphere, on course for Starbase 1. Khan made careful course corrections, continually making sure they remained out of view of every port window not their own as they glided along toward the giant space dock. Once the shuttle was close enough to the dock, Khan maneuvered the vessel downward, keeping dangerously close to the thermal tiles that comprised the underside of the space dock's hull—the action allowing it to slip unbidden from the rest of the formation. So much as a scrape would alert the entire base to their presence, a situation he refused to place his people in a second time. After two minutes, Khan slowed the shuttle, speaking quietly and only as much as he could manage. "…I have aligned our vessel with a seldom used static port. This will be our only way onto Starbase 1 that does not immediately betray our presence. There is a Hermes-class scout ship due for maintenance and should already be docked," Khan explained. "It will be sparsely manned. We will take that vessel and flee."
The others murmured their understanding as they watched Khan ease from the helm. His pain to them was obvious, but they were more than sure he had swallowed enough of his pride. He was walking and speaking a little more than an hour after having his torso perforated by an energy weapon, an impressive feat even for Augment standards. It was why he was their best. Gathering up what supplies Khan had prepared for the shuttle, the airlock opened and a hacker's intelligence gained the crew an entire space dock. Rather than the whole Starbase 1, a small ship—the USS Finch—was the intended goal. If things continued without issue, within the hour they would be well on their way.
A/N: Additional tweaks to earlier chapters are ongoing. Incidentally I've already started work on chapter 9, but there is no telling when it will be finished and ready for posting. But at least you know that it is in the pipeline. As usual constructive criticism breeds better chapters. Thank you all so much for sticking around! Till next time.