Chapter 11: Outpost 92
There was a joke in certain Starfleet circles that said 92 was nothing but an antique station-wagon with a typewriter on the dash. Amusing as the visual was, those who were actually stationed at the Jovian outpost would hardly disagree. It was ancient, ramshackle and so woefully neglected it was both a shock and miracle the place could keep anything alive. But it did, even if just barely. That day though, a host of foreign booted feet passed quietly down the empty halls—determined to carry out the mission levied to them. Unlike in the sewers of San Francisco, no one had a neat little computerized map to tell them where to go; good sense and situational awareness at present were the only things afforded. Lilith raised a fist, halting her group. The four of them slunk near a corner, taking care not to be discovered lest their presence be betrayed. Not that it mattered…Kahn ordered no survivors if at all possible, but stealth was always preferred.
None of them saw cameras or other monitoring devices thus far, so presumably they were in the clear. Ushering the party forward, Lilith slipped from the corner, pulse rifle pressed into her shoulder. No one. Good. They continued to stalk down the poorly lit hall—lights threatening to go out with each erratic flicker. There was a door up on the left. Examining it briefly, Lilith pressed her body against the wide crash-bar, rifle again up and ready to incinerate whatever came into view. The latch gave with a click and the door moved with her. There was another corridor on the other side as poorly lit as the first, but this time there was door on the right in possession of a narrow thatched window. The woman crept up and peeked swiftly inside. There was someone sitting, their back toward her. Lilith glanced at the others who in turn met her gaze. Holding up two fingers, she jerked her head; Oren and Aakar flanked opposite of her holding rifles at the ready. The metal handle was the only thing separating them from the person in the room and Lilith's hand was reaching for it. Fingers bending around the metal, she checked to see if it was locked from the inside. It wasn't and the handle continued to yield leaving no need to guess at what happened next.
The person nearly startled out of the chair when he was barged in upon, swiveling about to find three pulse rifles aimed at his head and torso. "Hands where I can see them," Lilith ordered, keeping her voice low. The man, a slightly older fellow regarded the woman and her accomplices with anxiously as his open palms inched slowly upward. "Who are-"
"Shut up," Lilith snapped cutting him off quickly before issuing a steely demand. "Where are your store rooms?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't fucking play dumb with me. Your store rooms…your rations, water, clothing, medical supplies—all that. Where are they?" Lilith's eyes narrowed as Aakar and Oren held their positions on either side of her, neither taking their gaze off the man.
"I'm not-"
In one blurred move, Lilith flipped the butt of her rifle into the side of the man's mouth, stunning him silent. Weapon again settled into her shoulder and aimed at the individual, she watched as he spit a bit of tooth out of a nastily split lip. "Shall we try that again?"
The man was visibly shaking now as he held his face, blood and saliva dripping down from behind his hand. "N-no more please…" Though it was unnecessary, Lilith slid closer and leveled the barrel with one of the man's wide eyes.
"Where."
"T-the pantry," the man replied, his words muffled by his hand and quickly swelling lip.
"Where is the pantry and what all's there?"
"The food cards," he choked out. "Back down the hall and to the left."
What the hell was a food card? Lilith didn't have time to wonder. "And the water?"
"The filtration room."
"Where is that?"
"A level below, near the aft of the s-station."
"The infirmary?"
"Out in the main hall three doors down on the right."
"Anything else I might be interested in?"
The man grimaced defiantly as he continued to hold his face. "You won't get away with this you crook!"
"Uh huh."
CRACK.
The man's head barely moved as the butt of Lilith's rifle found his face a second time…only instead of breaking more teeth, the super-woman shoved his sinus cavity deep into his brain. The man's hand fell as did his chin, crimson leaking onto his lap in thick uncomely little dots. "Search'em," Lilith ordered as she backed out into the hall where Sven had been keeping watch. Oren crawled through the man's pockets finding only a com device and a stick of chewing gum. Not much but good enough he supposed. They had spent more time with the Starfleet man than they ought to have in his opinion…at least they were finished there.
Elsewhere on the station, Roe and his group had yet to come across any people, but they managed to locate the armory. Though there was not much in the way of artillery, Roe recognized the smaller handheld phasers and pilfered them along with an unknown type of power cells. Stocking up on everything they assumed was useful, Roe's team moved more expeditiously through the dim halls, ready as ever to encounter their first target. It wouldn't be long before a random fellow came around a corner, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of four interlopers taking aim at him. "JAY!" The man shouted to an unseen person. It was the last thing he'd ever say as Roe zapped him in his forehead, skull smoking as the newly summoned Jay came racing into the corridor. He saw his felled friend before he saw those responsible for his death. "Oh my god! You're those people!" Jay gasped fearfully, pointlessly.
"You've heard of us then?" Roe returned with a smirk before promptly shooting him in the chest. The light had just begun to fade from the man's eyes when red lit bars flashed soundlessly along the hall's ceiling. "Oh drat…I suppose we'll have to hurry now," the Platinum haired leader quipped with a callous grin while patting down the first man. Kaida shook her head as she checked Jay. "You take far too much pleasure in killing humans Roe."
"And you're a human-lover," the Augment rejoined condescendingly, earning from Kaida her first scowl in a while. "I don't enjoy taking lives—there was a reason why I devoted my life to Khan and his rule," and it was that very reason why Kaida…didn't like this. But Khan always knew best.
"I suggest then Kaida that you take this opportunity to get over it," Roe added smugly, "there's more killing to be done after all."
"We could probably do this faster if we split up," Aakar posted as he pulled as much as he could recognize as food off the shelves. Lilith was shuttling other items into a large metal case in the pantry. When they found the case, it was full of what she understood to be M. . Oren himself had discovered a plastic crate full of soap and old flameless ration heaters as well as a container full of what looked like colored floppy disks. There were blankets, hand warmers, and survival gear that obviously hadn't been touched in ages, but seemed more than appropriate in the middle of a supply raid. "And what? So one of us can get lost and burn up what little time we have left?" Lilith grumbled, ignoring for the most part the red flashes she saw from outside of the pantry. "That damn hot-head has no sense of subtly."
"Well, he and the others were supposed to kill the station hands," Oren offered.
"Your point? I killed one and didn't set the whole place on alert," the woman snorted before glancing quickly about the 'Pantry'. "Okay, we can't remain here any longer; we still don't have water or meds. Let's get this stuff back to the extraction point and get to those other locations." In short order, the smaller Augments were hefting the spoils while the larger Sven continued to cover them all while hands were full. It had already been about ten minutes, which meant the whole endeavor now existed on borrowed time. Lilith's group scrambled for at least two minutes more trying to find a way to the lower level, which came as a metal staircase near the far side of the station. the dead man never did say which end was aft. "Aakar," Lilith called, clearly relenting on a previously discussed matter. "Find the infirmary then sit with the gathered supplies, this is taking too long."
"Right," Aakar acknowledged, not wasting any words on vindication. He understood why Lilith didn't want them separating, but there was no other way to be more efficient. Charging off in the opposite direction, the others hurried into the station's underbelly in hopes of finding the much coveted H2O. Once there, if the main level lighting was pitiable, the lower level was like being blindfolded in a dark room. "For fuck's sake, how are we supposed to find this shit if we don't even know what it looks like?" Lilith snarled as she ducked low pipes and navigated small spaces, the small clock in her head mocking she had failed that particular mission parameter. "Is that an indirect criticism against Khan ma'am?" Oren snipped from behind.
"Stuff it Oren, keep your eyes peeled. We're outta time down here."
"What's that up ahead?" It was from Sven bringing up the rear only barely squeezing along. Lilith who was up front squinted in the darkness, commanding all of her superior sight to see what Sven already had. It was a large cylindrical drum with a large pipe extending from its top. Lilith closed the distance quickly noticing a collection of bulky white letters on the protruding pipe that simply read 'filter'. "This has to be it," she observed, irritated that they didn't even have any means to properly illuminate the area. "There's a valve," Oren pointed out, moving over to it. A metal placard hung off the twist valve marked 'water shutoff'. He turned the dull colored octagon. "The flow should be off while we try to figure this out."
Lilith nodded and turned to Sven. "Put me on your shoulders so I can reach that pipe." Silently heeding the order, Sven's hands gripped the woman's waist and lifted. Thighs on either side of her comrade's head, Lilith found the water filtration system surprisingly negotiable. Two pressure buttons straddling a panel flush with the pipe would sink under her ministrations, sliding the panel back into the pipe itself. Excess water from the shutoff drained for a few seconds, drenching the Augments both. Judging by the slime on the underside of the filter, it was clear that the tank below was the fresh store. "Yeah, this is it…this is the water," Lilith confirmed as Sven lowered her to the ground.
"And how do we get it back to the ship I wonder? In our cupped hands?" Oren asked sourly. His frustration was grounded—it was hard to assume this was planned well given the unanswered questions they were running into left and right. Lilith had no response…and had no way of asking Khan what next to do.
Meanwhile, Aakar sprinted through the corridors on the direction of the human Lilith killed. True to word, the door to the infirmary was marked by the very familiar red cross and pushed open quickly to reveal a pleasing sight. Though the overall arrangement of Jupiter Outpost 92 was extremely archaic by 23rd century standards, Aakar felt a sense of relief for not having to ponder at what he was looking at with time so of the essence. Hands flew through every drawer, cabinet and tray he came across—it was the mother-load. Medications, antibiotics, sedatives and stimulants were well arranged and easily marked. The now recognizable hyposprays were in abundant supply along with a plethora of intravenous hydration pouches and other aqueous solutions. There were also many things that Aakar didn't recognize but collected them all the same, leaving three large red bio-bags to be recovered and stuffed wildly with anything and everything not fastened down. Ultimately he would rush bags as large as him back to the transporter point, wondering finally where the rest of his crewmates were.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," Roe taunted the empty halls. No doubt by now the remaining outpost crew had gone into hiding. As much as he'd of liked to, he knew they couldn't play seek and find, not when Khan had allotted only seventeen minutes for their plundering. Too bad things in these types of situations seldom went according to plan. "We should get back," Devindar cautioned. Shoving every encountered door open with a rough shoulder, Roe seemingly ignored the statement until he saw fit to reply. "Khan said no survivors, and that is what we are going to ensure."
"You hear what you wanna hear Roe—Khan said 'ideally' no survivors," Aavai bit back. "It's not like we get extra points for the body-count."
"Khan put me in charge so we're doing this. Stay focused," the Platinum snapped.
"Man are you serious?" Devindar demanded, astounded by Roe's sudden recklessness.
"This wasn't even supposed to take twenty minutes and it's easily been twenty-three," Kaida fussed, jumping in.
"It mustn't be that bad or else Khan would have called us back with the transporter by now," Roe defended even as the red alert lights continued to flash everywhere they turned.
"Have you considered Khan might have his hands full fighting off Starfleet interceptors, or worse? It's not like he was a hundred percent when we got here you ass," Aavai launched again.
"You guys," Kaida interceded, "we can't start figh-" A disruptor blast sizzled overhead of the Augments putting an instant end to their bickering, a second one almost hitting Devindar in the head. In turn, the four sent a volley of fire at the hidden assailant only to be met with more return fire and at increased intensity. There was a shout as a body hit the floor. Suddenly the offending fire ceased as the presumed Starfleet personnel fled deeper into the station. Immediately Roe pressed a pursuit that was joined hesitantly by the other members of his increasingly reluctant team.
The thunder of feet over cold tile was pervasive down the halls of the outpost as more phaser fire rang out. With a frown Aakar raised his rifle, listening carefully for who could have been who, and where the feet were bringing the action. From the sounds of the commotion, the chase would pass right through his location. "Surrender and die with some dignity!" Roe yelled after the fleeing outposters who had stopped shooting in favor of running. Aakar heard this and sighed, taking careful aim down the corridor where the runners would be meeting their untimely end. As expected, two people wearing gray coveralls swiftly rounded a far off corner heading straight for Aakar. One of them recognized Aakar immediately as not one of their own and rose their phaser to fire, but missed. Apparently marksmanship was not a prized skill in the 23rd century. Aakar fired a single shot from his pulse rifle and caught his attacker in the neck, nearly decapitating him. Immediately the other one threw down his phaser ahead of him and fell to his knees, both hands shooting up. "I surrender! I surrender!" Aakar lowered his rifle. "How many-"
"ROE!"
At once the Starfleet man slumped fell to one side, half his face burned off by a blast from an obscured source. In the next second Aakar saw Roe come into view, eyes looking down his nose at the other man he had killed. "Roe he surrendered," Kaida insisted, glaring hotly.
"You think I give a damn? What part of no survivors, ideally or otherwise, wasn't clear? Besides, there's still one missing..."
"No there isn't, Lilith got one," Aakar supplied, less than enamored by Roe's display of outright execution in light of a clear surrender…but said nothing on it.
"Well good, then we can get the hell off this thing," Roe commented with a sharp eye roll. "Where's the rest of Lilith's bunch?"
"Here," she'd call, Oren and Sven beside her dragging a huge metal cylinder by a thick metal chain.
"Looks like the gang's all here," the Platinum grinned as he dipped down to give last minute checks to the last felled men. "Now what?" Aavai asked noticing the large pile of goods in the middle of the corridor.
"We wait for Khan," Lilith answered wringing out the front of her shirt.
It was only seconds later the eight Augments found themselves back aboard the Finch, watching the mass of supplies they pilfered materialize upon the transport pad. Despite misfires, their efforts had paid off handsomely. Breaking away from the group, Aakar left for the bridge. "Khan," he'd greet upon entry. "While I will leave the briefing for Roe and Lilith, I wanted to report a successful gathering of medical provisions. When you are ready Khan, I would like sir to reassess your injuries." For the second time Khan didn't respond after a number of moments. Whether it was displeasure at the length his crew was away Aakar was uncertain, but this time, he would not simply hang back. Rounding the back of Khan's chair, worry knotted in the man's stomach at the pallor of their leader. He was sweating profusely and his lids were heavy and fluttering; the barest bit of blue colored his lips and he seemed faint. "Khan…" Aakar breathed as he reached out to him only to have Khan bat a hand at him weakly. "Please Khan," he'd say as he simply worked around Khan's anemic protest, lifting his shirt. The dressing placed over Khan's wound was sticky and saturated with amber-colored discharge. His chest rose and fell in shallow fashion and his breath sounded wet.
"Someone get in here and help me now," Aakar yelled from the bridge's door, summoning quickly Oren. "What, what?"
"Help me get him to the medical bay, he's got fluid in his lungs," he explained quickly.
Even as Aakar and Oren were pulling him from the helm, Khan put up more resistance than expected as he leaned into the console, entering coordinates. Only when finished did he allow himself to be taken from the bridge. There was something else that needed to be accomplished before they left Jupiter far behind. That, and no one knew how to pilot the Finch but him.
A/N: I know, only one A/N blurb today. I just wanted to spend a little more time with Khan's crew (might have some typos in there, I was really tired while proofing this). I get the feeling that some of them might be a tad one dimensional. I'm still trying to decide how much energy I'm looking to invest into them...or if people want me to invest more into them at all. Also, I plan on returning to Spock 'n Uhura in the next chapter, though how I might do that at this point, I am REALLY drawing a blank on. I am open to suggestions right about now. Anyway, your reads and reviews are always awesome :) Keep them coming and I might be able to pump these chapters out a little faster. I'm cheerleading myself toward the main part of this story!