STAR TREK; PHASE ONE
Alignment of the Stars
starring
Roger Howarth as Gary Mitchell
Naveen Andrews as Khan
The massive airliner, a C187G-Airbus, banked to the left slightly and headed across the Atlantic on a course for Rome Italy.
Gary Mitchell was sitting in his seat staring at the image on his padd, and was startled to find out that Khan had survived the phaser attack upon the warehouse on Mars; just as Gary had. Gary stood up and went to one of the many observation windows passengers could stand up and gaze out of. Luckily the flight was under booked and he was able to find privacy there.
"So," Gary, with a sarcastic smile, said to Khan, "like the proverbial cat you have again escaped death; remarkable. I see a movie deal in your future if you play your cards right."
Khan nodded. "And I have you no doubt to thank for my latest feat."
Gary feigned ignorance. "What do you mean? It's a miracle any of us survived."
Khan's expression was cold and shallow. "Don't insult my intelligence, Mitchell. I saw what you did to my men right before the shuttle fired on us. And I saw, for a brief instant, a shield of green energy surround you, Chekov, Terrell and myself. Somehow it would seem as if Starfleet is quite unaware of your new abilities; but I assure you, I am not."
The evil inside of Gary wanted to kill Khan by snapping his neck. But the distance between them made that impossible, for now.
"Well then it looks like we both have something to tell the United Space Agency," Gary countered back with. "I seriously doubt that anyone at the Space Agency, or Starfleet Command, knows that you're still alive up on Mars."
It was then that Khan finally smiled.
"Precisely," Khan said. "We both have our own agendas and I agree to let us both follow our own paths; if that is acceptable to you."
Gary nodded. "Alright, I'll play it your way." Gary said, though he still wanted to squeeze Khan's head until it was smashed in.
"Very well then," Khan said. "For now. I am able to contact you on a subspace communication's frequency that Starfleet is only now beginning to experiment with. Fortunately the people I once worked for already have the ability and gave it to me before I left Earth on the Enterprise all those months ago. However; since I do not trust you, it will be the last time I shall ever speak with you in this manner."
"Very honestly put," Gary said. "Now what is it you want?"
"The people I once worked for; I want you to kill them," Khan said.
"Now why would I want to do that?" Gary asked.
Khan smiled.
"Peripherally," Khan said, "they are responsible for trying to destroy this colony and those of us from the first mission after our first incident with the Martian parasites."
"Have you been infected?" Mitchell asked.
"No, I have not. But while we are on that topic; I do know that Chekov was infected because I did it. Yet I find it quite interesting that even as of last night, according to the Russian news reports which I still receive here up on Mars, she was the recipient of a party thrown in her honor in Moscow. I also note that you were there in her honor. I take it Starfleet does not know she is infected."
Gary did not respond.
"Your silence betrays you, Mitchell," Khan said with a smirk on his face. "However, that is not my concern. What I am interested in is the organization I once worked for. It is headed by the former United States Senator John Gill."
Gary nodded. "John Gill," Gary said, "I know of him. He's some whack-job hardliner who thinks the U.N. is too soft and wants a more forceful world government."
"The same," Khan continued. "He and his organization are actively trying to make themselves into an alternate power on Earth. They even have their own starship nearing completion which they intend to launch and to use to challenge the United Space Agency's dominance in space. They use coercion of those whom they deem important in order to achieve their means. They will…"
Gary cut him off upon hearing the word coercion. "Does the name Tom Garak mean anything to you?"
Khan thought for a moment. "Yes it does. That is the name of one of Gill's operatives. Why do you ask?"
"Do you have a picture of this man?" Gary asked.
Khan manipulated the controls on his console and an instant later Garak's image appeared on Mitchell's screen.
"That is Tom Garak," Khan said.
Gary looked at Garak. It was only matter of time now until Garak would be dead. Gary flipped the screen back so as to show Khan again.
"You said that Gill's organization was only peripherally involved. What did you mean by that?" Gary asked.
"There is a very secretive government agency called Section-31," Khan said, "which actually took control of the satellite and made it fire on the colony. This secret agency was able to input secret command lines into most of the Unites Space Agency's technology; including the satellites above Mars, and the computers aboard Enterprise as well. What the aim of this agency is, I do not know. But I really don't care. They tried to destroy a threat, the parasites, and I can actually accept that as a consequence. What I could not accept was Gill's giving me up as a target to them. For that, Gill and his organization must be destroyed."
"Alright, I'll play along," Gary said, "How am I supposed to do that?"
Khan took a sip from a glass of water, and continued.
"There is an island off the coast of Australia," Khan said as the image of the island appeared on Mitchell's screen. "Destroy that island and you will destroy Gill and his organization. If you are as powerful as I think you are, you should be able to accomplish this."
"And what do I get in exchange for doing this dirty deed for you?" Gary asked. "You could just call me back up and demand something else and then something else and so on. Why should I help you now?"
"I know for a fact Gill intends to destroy the credibility of Starfleet and the Space Agency by tearing down the beloved hero, James T. Kirk."
Khan was right, that did anger Gary. Even though Gary was becoming something more than a mere human, he did have a strong loyalty to his best friend, Kirk.
"And the reason," Khan continued, "I won't 'call you back' is because I believe your power will soon be able to swat me down as though I were a fly. My plan is to get as far from you as possible and that brings me to the second item I want you to do."
"Which is?" Gary asked.
"In the heart of the island lair is a ship, a space ship in fact. They call her the Botany Bay. And if you are as powerful as I think you are becoming, you should have no trouble saving the ship and sending it my way. From that point on we will go our own ways and you will never see me again, and you would have saved Kirk. I think that is a fair exchange."
"Very well," Gary said. "But I promise you this," Gary added, "If we ever do meet again I will destroy you."
Khan smiled. "Then I suggest we never meet again Gary Mitchell."
USS LEXINGTON
The mission to catalog the remnants of the Clark/Dennison asteroid, which had been successfully destroyed by the Enterprise a year earlier, was completed. Although most of the debris from the asteroid had now become tiny fragments, there were still some that posed future threats to Earth. In fact one of the smaller debris clouds, already cataloged by the Lexington several months earlier, was actually near Earth. This smaller cloud was from the part of the asteroid that was struck by the blasts, and had its course drastically altered.
Geologist Darnell Merriweather, the specialist heading the mission, was awakened from his sleep by a hail from the Lexington's Captain, Rachel Garret.
"Mr. Merriweather, can you please report to the bridge?" her voice asked from the com unit.
"I'm on my way," Merriweather said as he rubbed his eyes and got dressed.
Moments later Merriweather entered the bridge and came over to the science station.
"What is it?" Merriweather asked.
"Take a look," Garret said pointing at the screen.
The space map on the main screen showed the debris cloud near Earth. It was currently ten million miles from Earth and had been determined not to pose any threat. As Merriweather looked at a tactical image of the smaller debris cloud he could see a stray fragment heading towards Earth as it was being tracked by the Lexington's sensors.
"You see what I see?" Captain Garret asked.
"How is that possible?" Merriweather asked. "There is no reason why that fragment should be heading towards Earth."
"That was exactly what I was going to ask you," Garret said. "I thought your devices would tell us of any possible course change. But exactly two hours ago that fragment not only strayed from the debris cloud; it is gaining speed."
"That is not possible," Merriweather replied. "That is just not possible."
PLANET ROMULUS
The Praetor took in what had been said to him just moments before.
"So," The Praetor said, "our brothers (Earthlings) have finally grown of age; perfect. Perhaps our return home is drawing closer than we thought."
continued…