STAR TREK; PHASE ONE

Combustible Intuition

The sandstorm on Mars was still howling outside of the shuttle in which Lance Corporal Curtis Donovan found himself guarding. The rest of the landing crew had left the shuttle to try and find Captain Terrell and Lt. Chekov. Corporal Donovan had been left behind. He sat in the cockpit of the shuttle and stared out the main window at the whirling sandstorm.

Then, without warning, as he was just biding his time, the main control panel came to life.

"What the…" his words trailed off as he could only just watch as the lights and panels began to hum to life.

Although he had yet to be trained on how to fly the new Omega shuttle model, he was still able to read some of the readouts. And it was quite obvious that the weapons platform was being accessed. The shuttle was preparing to fire a blast and there was nothing he could do about it!

Meanwhile; Sergeant Rounds was still hunkered down near the warehouse he was to have been checking for survivors. But the screams coming from the warehouse Commander Mitchell had chosen to investigate had changed all that.

He could see that other warehouse from his vantage point, and used his PADD to take control of the shuttle's weapons platform, so as to destroy and kill Khan and his followers, as so ordered by John Gill. He also knew there were two more of his men out looking at the other warehouses, and who could have even heard the screams, and were possibly investigating the screams. But Rounds could no longer worry about their survival, or his. If they all died in the blast, then they would have died in the line of duty, which is what every true marine trained for. John Gill had made it very clear that none of Khan's party, or Khan himself, were allowed to live.

Rounds looked at the PADD's small screen, at the warehouse, which appeared only as a large hulking construct via the image being relayed from the shuttle's own visual enhancements. Rounds knew that Donovan was no doubt trying to override his attempt to fire the shuttle's weapons, but the young Lance Corporal, Donovan, didn't nearly have the training Rounds had. Rounds armed one of the phaser turrets and prepared to fire.

Space City orbiting the fifth planet in the Alpha Centauri star system:

Uhura was still looking at the exotic shoes on display in the alien shoe store in the large Promenade section of the massive space city. Kirk and McCoy noticed two Romulans standing near them.

"Look," McCoy said. "Those two over there are wearing the same kind of uniform the Romulan we saw earlier was wearing. They even have the same kind of helmets. They look very human to me."

"Let's go over there and introduce ourselves," Kirk said. "I'd like to know where they are from."

Kirk and McCoy walked over to two Romulans.

"Excuse me," Kirk said to the two Romulans who were seemingly enjoying the amenities as Kirk and McCoy were. "Can we have a word with you?"

The two Romulans were seated at a table and looked up at Kirk.

"Why do you wish to speak to us?" one of them asked.

"I don't know how to put this," Kirk said with a warm smile. "But I was just wondering what planet do you both come from?"

"Why do you want to know?" the other Romulan asked in a cold detached manner.

"Well," Kirk continued, "my friend and I come from a planet called Earth, and we…"

As soon as the word Earth left Kirk's mouth, the two Romulans stood to their feet and faced Kirk. They were both nearly a whole head taller than Kirk, and were obviously brought to attention by Kirk's uttering of the word Earth.

"You are from Earth!?" one of them asked with a smug look on his face.

"Yes," Kirk replied, not showing any sign of intimidation.

"You listen, and you listen well," the Romulan to the left side of Kirk said. "You will stay clear of us." Then he moved closer to Kirk, and stared Kirk straight in his eyes. "Take my advice Terran," he added, "Go back to Earth. As long as you stay in your star system, you are off limits to us. Venture outside of your star system, and then you will do so at your own peril; some like to call it a Prime Directive. Your kind is not ready for what exists beyond Earth."

"Alright," Kirk replied. "We will consider your warning. Just please answer my question."

The Romulan smiled. "No, Terran, that is not the question you want me to answer. What you're really asking is if we Romulans come from Earth."

Captain James T. Kirk had to admire the Romulan. It was exactly what he was trying to get to in a roundabout way.

"The answer," the Romulan said as his face turned to a cold stare, "is that you and I come from the same stock. Think of us as cousins," he added with a slight smirk. "That is all I will tell you. Consider my warning, and return to your ship, and return to Earth. Tell your leaders that your world, Earth, is not yet ready to for what is to come. Sublime ignorance will keep your world safe, for now."

And with that the two Romulans walked away.

"He was a really nice chap," McCoy said with a note of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yes, he was," Kirk said. "Let's get Uhura, and then get the hell out of here."

"Why?" McCoy asked. "You're not going to let him scare us back home are you? Didn't you say risk was part of the reason we were out here?"

"I did," Kirk admitted. "But wrapped inside his words was a subtle threat to my ship." He looked at all of the alien life forms that were milling about the general area. "We have enough information, for now, to relay to Starfleet Command. We've had our first taste of what's out here; now it's time to go home. And until the new subspace communications technology comes on line, we need to get this information back to Colonel Pike."

Uhura came back carrying three bags of shoes.

"I'm all done now," She said with a broad smile.

A half hour later Kirk, McCoy and Uhura were back aboard the USS Enterprise.

"What are your orders, sir?" Chakotay asked.

"Set a course back for home," Kirk said as he sat down in his command chair. "Take an evasive course around where we encountered the Gorn and Romulan fleets."

"Aye sir," Crusher said.

"Ready to engage," Sulu added as he got the coordinates from Crusher.

"Engage," Kirk said.

McCoy stood by Kirk's command chair.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" McCoy asked again. "Why not go out further?"

"We will," Kirk said as he watched the City in Space fade from view as the Enterprise sped away. "But not now," Kirk added. "The galaxy isn't going anywhere."

McCoy nodded, and then headed of the bridge.

As Kirk watched the stars stream by, he began to massage his chin as he always did when he was in deep thought, his arm resting on the arm of his chair as he tried to make sense of what they had experienced. Gorn, Romulans, a City in Space. There was much to digest.

"Spock," Kirk said to the Spock unit. "Do you think it is logical to return to Earth at this point?"

Spock; Captain; I cannot give you a value judgment. However, you have accomplished the mission protocols. There are repairs that need to be done. The reasons for returning are formidable.

Kirk nodded in agreement. On paper, they had all the reasons to go back home to Earth. Yet part of Kirk wanted to go out further and see what other mysteries the galaxy held. But this time the conservative streak inside him won out.

But next time they left the Earth system it would be for a longer period of time. He didn't like the Romulan's tone, and would be sure to remember that if such encounters happened again.

(James T. Kirk was right; there would be another trek into space. And it would be the next venture into space that Kirk would find even more mysteries; and warnings about a terrifying existence in space: The Borg.)

MARS

Khan, while holding the large and strange creature in one hand, used his other hand, with Tweezers at his disposal, to again remove one of the young tiny creatures from the very scary looking, large mother-creature that was indigenous to Mars. It resembled a large scorpion, but far more intimidating.

Khan positioned the tweezers over Chekov's head and then let the tiny creature drop down into her ear. She screamed in agony as the creature devoured its way deeper into her ear, the blood from her ear squirting out. And as she screamed in pain she saw the door to the warehouse fly open. It was Gary Mitchell!

The last thing she remembered was the look of pure evil on his face, and the appearance of his eyes; they were pure white. She lost consciousness.

Khan recognized Mitchell right away.

"Ah," Khan said with smile, "the great American hero, oh yeah that's Kirk not you. The number two has come to rescue the damsel in distress."

"You could say something like that," Gary said in a cold tone.

"Get him," Khan said to his men.

Khan's men rushed Gary Mitchell. But with just a slight movement, Gary waved his right hand and instantly the heads of the men rushing him just seemed to fall off the necks that supported them. While the heads thumped to the ground, the headless bodies collapsed to the ground, the blood from the stump of their necks squirting as they fell to the ground, creating a sea of blood.

The strange creatures inside the heads all squirmed out of the ears of the now decapitated heads, and scurried about, unorganized.

"Impressive," Khan said with adulation in his voice. "You would make a great soldier in my efforts." Khan pointed his hand at Gary Mitchell in a quick movement and the creatures, all in unison, turned and scurried towards Gary Mitchell. Mitchell, his eyes still white, smiled at the attempt.

"It won't work, old friend," Mitchell said.

Gary snapped his fingers and the creatures all became tiny flames and ceased to exist.

"And now," Gary said with a sinister smile, "it's your turn, Khan"

At that instant Sgt. Rounds activated the shuttle's phaser turret and it fired into the warehouse, catching Gary Mitchell off guard, and causing a giant explosion. And, in a fraction of a second, sensing mortal danger, Gary created a shield of pure energy. In that moment the shield not only shielded Gary, but it also shielded Khan, Terrell, who was still on the ground near Khan, and Nadya Chekov. The explosion continued, and soon the entire warehouse was consumed in a giant explosion; seemingly killing all inside.

An hour later search teams from the Reliant arrived to help search for any survivors. Sergeant Rounds was satisfied when some of the remains of the original colony members were found dead among the debris, just as Gill had ordered. He would later assure Gill that Khan must have been incinerated in the blast.

Meanwhile, Commander Gary Mitchell and Lt. Nadya Chekov had miraculously survived the blast, somehow being thrown from the building, and were transferred up to the ship for medical treatment. Captain Terrell was also found, barely alive, and he too was transferred up to the ship for medical assistance.

"It was nothing shorter than a miracle," Corporal Donovan said to Rounds, "that Commander Mitchell, Captain Terrell and Lt. Chekov were able to keep their oxygen masks on, or they would have suffocated before we could have found them. I tried to stop the shuttle from firing, but I couldn't."

"It was a tragic malfunction," Rounds told the younger man, knowing full well what had really happened. "There must have been a stray line of command in the weapons platform. You're lucky it didn't blow the shuttle and you up."

Soon, the shuttles left the colony, and headed back to the Reliant. There were many questions that only a debriefing of Captain Terrell, Commander Gary Mitchell and Lt. Chekov would answer. And as the lights of the shuttles went upward and disappeared into the swirling sandstorm, a lone figure stood outside the smashed compound, wearing an oxygen mask as well as a dark colored Turban; Khan.

Three hours later aboard the Reliant:

Gary Mitchell watched from his med bed as the doctors worked on Chekov in the emergency room. Captain Terrell had, unfortunately, died from his wounds, effectively placing Gary in command of the Reliant.

Gary thought back on what had happened. In the brief moment the shuttle had fired on the warehouse, Gary's unique power shielded him, Terrell and Chekov from the blast. Gary also had distant memories of placing oxygen masks on the three of them so as to cover the tracks of how they had really been saved; via his powers.

He also knew, full well, that one of those creatures had been placed inside of Chekov's ear. He did not tell the medical team this fact, afraid of what would happen if Starfleet Command found out that she had been compromised. It had become abundantly clear to Gary that more was going on than anyone knew.

Gary had scanned Round's mind, while returning to the Reliant earlier. He saw the memory of Rounds acting on orders from John Gill, the former Senator, to destroy Khan and the other colonist. It had been Sgt. Rounds who had accessed the shuttle's weapons in an attempt to kill Khan, and indirectly, Terrell, Chekov, and Gary as well. Gary would keep this information secret, for now.

Gary Mitchell found it very interesting that John Gill already knew of the alien infection, and also knew there had been survivors. And if John Gill knew, and he was a rogue operative not serving the military, then did the Unites Space Agency, and Starfleet Command, know was well? And if killing the colony survivors was part of the reason the Marines were aboard the Reliant in the first place, acting independent of Captain Terrell's command, then what would be the protocol for dealing with someone, such as Chekov, who had been infected.

For that reason Gary Mitchell would keep the knowledge of her infection to himself for now. He could easily snap his finger and remove the creature, which he could tell was still inside of her, but didn't. The strange dark pull inside of his being, the part that scared him as each day passed, wouldn't let him save her. The evil, curious part inside him, wanted to see what was to come.

Continued…