-Prologue-

The Beta Quadrant

"Captain's log, stardate 2261.01. The crew of the Enterprise observed the new year on New Vulcan, with Commander Spock's father and the individual we've dubbed Spock Prime. It's still very strange to me that there are two of him. Spock and Lieutenant Uhura are in unusually high spirits since the visit. I wonder if they're hiding something. At any rate, they're not fighting anymore and I'm relieved."

Jim Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise, paused his dictation and leaned back in the chair behind his desk. His quarters were quiet; it was the middle of the night aboard the ship, and apart from the skeleton crew that manned the bridge during the night, everyone was asleep.

He liked this time of night; it gave him space to think without the constant demands of commanding the vessel he loved so much. He loved being captain, and he loved what they were doing. But sometimes, he needed a break from it.

It had been almost two years since he'd died saving the Enterprise and its crew. He'd been revived through the blood of one Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically engineered superhuman with homicidal tendencies. Dying had changed him. So had Khan's blood, though he hadn't confessed that to anyone.

They weren't huge changes, just subtle ones no one noticed but him. His eyesight was sharper. His reflexes just a little faster, his body just a little stronger. He didn't need as much sleep as he had before, and his mind, well . . . Kirk had always been something of a genius. Christopher Pike had once asked him, the night he'd talked him into joining Starfleet six years ago, if he liked being the only genius-level repeat offender in Iowa. So he'd always been smart.

But now, he was smarter.

It scared him a little, enough that he had spent the last two years wondering if he was going to change in other ways. So far, so good, and he was still the Jim Kirk he always had been. Well, not entirely. Death did change one's outlook. He wasn't as brash, cocky, and gung-ho as he'd been before.

"Current plans are to swing past the remains of Vulcan on the way back out into the unknown. It's mostly for Spock's benefit-"

The communicator on his desk beeped. He paused the recording, held in a sigh as he pressed its answer button. "Kirk."

"Captain," the voice of his first officer said, "Lieutenant Uhura has informed me that we are receiving a high-priority transmission from Earth, addressed to you."

Kirk frowned. "I'll take it here in my quarters. You might as well come over, so I don't have to repeat anything."

"Certainly, Captain."

In moments, his door chimed. Kirk said, "Come."

It slid open and admitted Spock. Obviously, the Vulcan hadn't been sleeping, either. Kirk motioned him over to the desk even as he touched the computer screen with a finger, signalling it to give him the transmission.

It was text, and Kirk skimmed it. Then he stopped, went back and read it more slowly.

Then he swore.

"Captain?"

Kirk rubbed a hand over his face, noting he needed to shave. "That was from Starfleet. Actually, it was from a Vice Admiral Brody. Don't know who they are, but they said it has to do with Section 31. It seems that Khan and his crew have been . . . abducted."

Spock wasn't often bewildered, but his brows drew together ever-so-slightly at this. "An interesting choice of words, Captain."

"Yeah. Admiral Brody also says that Lieutenant Commander Anthea Mackintosh is missing."

The Vulcan tipped his head. "You think that she had something to do with this?"

The captain snorted. "Oh, I know that Anthea Harrison had everything to do with it."

"I was under the impression she believed her husband to be deceased. How did she know he wasn't?"

"She's a spy, Spock. I'm pretty sure she knew exactly what she was after when she came to see us in San Francisco." And he, stupidly, had told her just about everything he knew. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Spock leaned over and read the missive from Earth. "How long ago did they discover this?" he asked, even though he could read it for himself.

"Apparently, she altered the records and they had to go through all their top-secret storage facilities one by one. She 'vanished' a little over a month ago with her kid. I'm guessing she's spent the last two years working on this."

"She is the wife of a criminal mastermind," Spock remarked.

Kirk scowled at the screen. "Just what we need, Khan and his people loose in the galaxy. This is just great."

"I presume that Starfleet would like us to locate them."

"Doesn't say," Kirk said.

"What are we going to do, Captain?"

Jim Kirk heaved a sigh. "I have no clue."