Chris
"Why the hell did he surrender?" McCoy just asked the million credit question. Jamie filled Chris in and he was as curious as the doctor was about it.
Jamie answered her friend, "I don't know, Bones, but he just took out a squadron of Klingons almost by himself. I wanna know how."
"Sounds like we have a Superman on board," McCoy said.
"No such thing, but if anyone can figure it out, it's you," Jamie chuckled. Chris, Jamie, McCoy and Spock entered the brig and walked over to the cell where they were holding Harrison.
"Put your arm through the hole, I'm gonna take a blood sample," McCoy told the man, who complied. After he got his sample, McCoy took a step back. No one said anything for a moment, Harrison decided to speak.
"I think you'd find my insight valuable, Captain. If you ignore me, you'll get everyone on this ship killed," the operative told her. Jamie looked at Chris, he nodded his permission for her to talk the prisoner.
"Let me explain what's happening here. You are a criminal. I watched you murder innocent men and women. We were ordered to end you... and the only reason why you are still alive is because we're allowing it. You have two options, answer my questions or shut the hell up. Now, why did you surrender?" She asked. Harrison looked at her and they all looked at him. After a second, he answered.
"I surrendered to you because you have a conscience, Misses Pike. I know more about you than most people would even believe, the things you've seen, the horrors you've survived. If not for the Admiral here, you could've easily ended up on this side of the glass. Of course, I doubt you would've surrendered." Jamie and Chris shared a look.
Chris looked at the man, "Explain."
"I am not the person that Admiral Marcus wanted to lead his war. Do you think that your life has been nothing more than random catastrophes, Captain Kirk? Your unstable mother who was somehow able to return to space instead of a mental facility, the vicious Starfleet reject of a step-father who beat and raped you before he killed your brother with his bare hands, Kodos the Executioner's rampage and Hoshi Sato's death, the attacks on the Hernandez and the Lovell while you were on or near both ships. None of it was accidental. Marcus has been grooming you for war since you were a child." Chris could almost see it as all the air left her. Everything she's been through was on purpose. He wanted to hurt somebody, Marcus was a good target at the moment. McCoy and Spock both stepped closer to her and Chris. She looked at Harrison.
"Why did you kill the officers at HQ?" she asked. Jamie was being vague but Chris read into the question.
"Kamnach and Abbott were not the people you thought they were. Kamnach's job was to keep track of you after you left the Aldrin, that's why they sent Pike on the Lake, you two were extremely close from the moment you met. Sending him to the other side of the quadrant left you in San Francisco alone save your cousin, who was also on Marcus' radar. Abbott was the man who kept track of your mother, her death wasn't an accident; she was meant to find the leak in the warp core. You and Pike going over from the Yorktown was also part of the plan, the officer who resisted arrest was meant to kill Pike, Marcus didn't expect that you would kill him yourself. Your friend Shran wasn't on purpose and for that I am sorry, he was standing too close to Marcus." They were all confused.
"Why were you avenging me, or protecting me and what is Marcus planning for me?" she asked.
"My older sister was a young ensign on the Kelvin, she knew your father, he was one of the few people she truly trusted. She always said he was a good man and the only thing he loved more than the fleet was his family. I was seven when he died but she told me stories for years after that. I was at the academy for two years when she was killed and Section 31 recruited me. At first, I thought it was what she would want but when I got my assignment to monitor you, I realized that something was wrong. Why would I be keeping track of a hero's daughter? You were on our side, loyal to Archer's crew and to Pike. All these bad things kept happening around you, I recognized it for what it was, training. Marcus isn't done with you. Fortunately, I never disclosed where your in-laws took your son. Your cousin is a dangerous man in his own right, your son and your friend's daughter are safe with him." Jamie looked at Chris, than back to Harrison.
"You laid waste to the Klingons, how?" she asked.
"Genetic enhancements, they make me faster, stronger and smarter than the average human. I'm meant to be better."
Spock spoke, "Better at what?"
Harrison looked at the Vulcan, "Everything. Marcus needed to respond to an uncivilized threat in a civilized time, but for that he needed a warriors mind, my mind, to design weapons and warships. He had hoped to utilize Kirk's mind and in a way he got it. You are quite the engineer, Captain Kirk." Chris knew that a lot of the things that Jamie came up with ended up with fleet engineering or with fleet intel, which means 31 could get a hold of it. Every equation, theory, computer code or piece of equipment she has come up with in the last eight years, at least, was ripe for the taking.
Spock spoke again, "You are suggesting the Admiral violated every regulation he vowed to uphold simply because he wanted to exploit your intellect."
"No, Spock," Jamie said. "Marcus wanted to exploit his savagery. Intellect by itself isn't worth anything in a fight, it's useless." McCoy, Spock and Chris all looked at her wide-eyed as she continued, "You wouldn't understand. You can't even break the rules, no one would ever expect you to break someone's bones. Take everything away from a brilliant man and then train him to be ruthless, you have the perfect warrior. If it wasn't for Chris, I would be Section 31, they tried, twice. The Admiral has a vision of a militarized Starfleet but without people like him," she gestured towards Harrison, "or me, it's just that, a vision." McCoy and Chris looked at her in shock but Harrison nodded.
"He sent you to use my weapons, to fire those torpedoes on an unsuspecting planet. The Klingons would look for whomever was responsible, and you would have no chance. Marcus would finally have the war he talked about the war he always wanted. All I had to do was kill the right people to get you out here." He looked at Chris, Jamie understood.
"Your orders at Daystrom were for Chris," she whispered.
"And Archer. I could not bring anymore harm to your family Captain Kirk, if for no other reason than you remind me of my sister. There isn't anything you wouldn't do for your family, just like Lex. Marcus was right, you will be at the forefront of the coming battle but you won't be on his side. I suggest that you have look at the torpedoes," the operative told them. The group left the brig.
"What do you think, Jim?" McCoy asked as Chris looked at her and he had never seen her look so heartbroken.
"What would you think if someone told you that every bad thing that ever happened to you was planned by a man who was supposed to be on your side?" she asked. Marcus wasn't her favorite officer but he was always nice to her and told her that if she needed anything to let him know. Chris knew that she didn't trust easily but she could have trusted Marcus if she gave herself the chance to. Why her? She didn't think she was that special. Of course, Chris told her that was what made her special but she still doesn't get it.
Jamie
"Are you out of your minds? You're not actually listen to this guy. He almost killed all three of you, and now you think it's a good idea to pop open a torpedo because he dared you to?" Bones was not happy and Spock was on his side.
"The doctor does have a point, Admiral, Captain," the science officer said. Jamie rolled her eyes when Bones spoke again.
"Don't agree with me, Spock. It makes me very uncomfortable," Bones grumbled. Chris and Jamie looked at each other.
"Perhaps you should learn to govern your emotions, Doctor. In this situation, logic dictates that we have..." Spock started but Bones cut him off.
"Logic! My God! There's a maniac trying to make us blow up our own damn ship, and you're talking about..." the doctor said just as Chris jumped in.
"Gentlemen, stand down. Let us pretend for half a second that Kirk and I actually know what we're doing. Alright, how are we gonna open one of the torpedoes?" he asked.
"Carol," was the answer his wife gave him. The woman in question joined their discussion in Chris' ready room.
"It's too dangerous to try and open one of these torpedoes on the Enterprise, but there is a nearby planetoid, I can open up one there. But I'll need some help, who has the steadiest hands on the ship?" she asked.
Jamie chuckled, "Bonesy, you're up." He grumbled but agreed to assist. The group came up with a plan and then went to the their separate ways, Carol and Bones to the shuttle bay, Spock to the bridge, and Chris kept Jamie in the ready room.
"How are you with all this? Don't give me a sarcastic answer either," he told her.
"I don't know how to feel," she answered honestly. "For right now, we have too much to do for me to dwell on it. I'll be ready when you need me." Chris nodded at her, he wasn't going to push. He stood up, walked around the desk and pulled her into his arms.
"No matter what, you are still you. And I will always love you," he said to his wife before he kissed her temple. She gave him a small smile and they both walked onto the bridge. It only took ten minutes for the shuttle to get to the planet. "Mister Sulu, have Doctors Marcus and McCoy landed on the planetoid yet?" Chris asked the helmsman.
He replied, "Yes, sir. They're moving the torpedo into position now."
Chris spun in his chair, "Lieutenant Uhura, did you get a hold of Archer or Barnett?"
She nodded, "Yes, sir. They said that your orders to get Harrison back to earth, stand. And I have the channel to the shuttle open, sir."
"You know, when I dreamed about being stuck on a deserted planet with a gorgeous woman, there was no torpedo," Bones said.
Jamie laughed, "Oh my God. Bonesy, are you flirting? I never thought I'd see the day." Everyone on the bridge snickered, especially when Bones spoke again.
"So, how can these legendary hands help you Dr. Marcus?" the grouch asked.
Chris chuckled, "McCoy, focus." They all listened as Carol explained.
"To understand how powerful these weapons are we need to open the warhead. To do that, we need to access the fuel compartment. Unfortunately for us, the warheads on these weapons are live," the weapons expert said. Bones turned on the charm that Jamie didn't even know he had.
"Sweetheart, I once a performed an emergency C-section on a pregnant Gorn. Octuplets. Let me tell you, those little bastards bite. I think I can work some magic on your missile," her friend told the other doctor. Jamie looked at Chris, who was trying not to laugh.
"Leonard," Carol pulled his attention back to the task at hand. "There's a bundle of fiber optic-cables against the inner casing. You'll need to cut the twenty-third wire down. Whatever you do, do not touch anything else. Do you understand?"
Bones was serious again, "Right. The thought never crossed my mind." They can all hear the doctors moving around.
"Okay, Doctor McCoy, wait for my word. I'm re-routing the detonation processor. Are you ready?" Carol asked.
"And raring," Bones replied. They heard Carol wish him luck, the next thing they heard was a scream.
"Sir, the torpedo just armed itself," Sulu told Chris.
Jamie looked at her console, "The warhead's gonna go in thirty seconds! Bones talk to me."
"What the hell happened?! I can't get my arm out!" Her friend's voice rang through the bridge.
Chris stood up, "Get their signal, beam them back right now." Jamie knew that wasn't a good idea, Spock confirmed her feelings a second later.
"The Transporter cannot differentiate between Doctor McCoy and the torpedo. We cannot beam back one without the other," Spock said. Chris spoke to the duo on the surface.
"Doctor Marcus, can you disarm it?" he asked.
"I'm trying, sir. I'm trying," she told them.
Bones spoke up, "Jim, get her the hell out of here!" Jamie looked at Chris.
"No. If they beam me back, you'll die! Just let me do it!" Carol yelled at him.
"Standing by to transport Doctor Marcus on your command, sir," Sulu said.
Bones was counting down, "Four, three..."
"Deactivation successful, sir," the helmsman told them. Jamie spoke before she could catch herself.
"Doctor McCoy, are you alright? Bones?"
He replied quietly, "Jim, you're gonna wanna see this."
Chris
"You mean to tell me that all six dozen of those things have Red Matter in them. How?" Chris asked Spock.
"It would seem that they do. Perhaps Harrison will be able to tell us why," the Vulcan said as the pair made their way to the brig. Jamie was already there talking to Harrison. She had a PADD in her hand and was reading what looked to be the Section 31 version of her file, Harrison had given her access to the information.
"They have everything... and I do mean everything," she told him. Chris took the PADD, logs of their conversations, holos of her all over the place, times they had sex, information for her friends, things that weren't in her medical records that McCoy didn't even know, it just went on and on. He couldn't -and wouldn't- focus on that right now. Chris handed the PADD back to her and looked up at Harrison.
"How did Marcus get Red Matter?" he asked the man. They'll deal with one problem at a time.
"The ship that contained the Red Matter was not destroyed, another ship was cloaked nearby and transported the majority of the substance aboard," Harrison told them.
"Cloaked? We don't have that technology," Chris said.
"No, but the Romulans do," Jamie sighed. "It makes sense. If the Federation goes to war with the Klingons, teaming up with the Romulans is the best way to come out on top. I'm guessing 31 has agents working with the Romulan Star Empire." This is just great, Nero with this stuff was bad enough but to have Marcus with a bunch of it was not good at all and the possibility of more is even worse. Before Chris could ask any more questions, they were interrupted by Sulu.
"Proximity alert, sir. There's a ship at warp heading right for us," the helmsman warned over the comm system. Everyone looked at each other.
"It's Marcus," Chris told the officers. "How far are we from earth?"
"Not far if we go to warp six, sir. It'll be close," Sulu answered.
"That is not good," Jamie pretty much summed it up.
"Sulu, keep going until I tell you otherwise. Have Uhura contact HQ, she'll know who and make sure she's standing by to record." Sulu gave Chris an 'aye, sir' and closed the channel. Chris looked at the security officer, "Lieutenant Shinobi, move Harrison to sickbay, post six security officers on him. Kirk, go with them. I'm going to try to get us away from Marcus." Chris and Spock ran onto the bridge, "ETA on the incoming ship, Mister Sulu?" Chris asked.
"Three seconds, sir," the pilot told him. Chris took the command chair and ordered that shields be raised, they weren't at warp but they would need be ready, Marcus wasn't going to be nice about this.
"They're hailing us, sir," Uhura notified him.
Chris nodded, "Put him on screen, record and broadcast ship wide." Uhura turned back to her console.
"Admiral Pike," Marcus said as he came onto the viewscreen.
Chris looked at him, "Admiral Marcus, I wasn't excepting you. It's a hell of a ship you got there."
"And I wasn't expecting to get word that you'd taken Harrison into custody in violation of your orders." Marcus was keeping a cool exterior.
"Well, our mission perimeters changed and we had to improvise. I guess you knew that," Chris said. Realistically, Marcus had no reason for being out here and they all knew it.
"I don't take your meaning," Marcus said. Chris didn't like playing this game, not with his crew out here. Uhura had notified HQ so hopefully they'd have back up.
"Well, that's why you're here, isn't it?" Chris asked. "Why else would the head of Starfleet Operations personally come to greet a ship on a prisoner transport?"
Sulu whispered from his seat, "Sir, they're scanning our ship." He knew that they were looking for Harrison and maybe even Jamie.
"Is there something I can help you find, sir?" Chris asked.
Marcus glared at him, "Where is your prisoner, Pike?"
"Per Starfleet regulation, I'm planning on returning Commander Harrison to Earth to stand trial," he half answered. Marcus didn't like that answer.
"I took a tactical risk sending that bastard out into the black, believing that his superior intelligence could help us protect ourselves from whatever came at us next. But I made a mistake. And now the blood of everybody he's killed is on my hands. So, I'm asking you, give him to me so that I can end what I started," Marcus said to him. The entire crew was listening.
"And what exactly would you like me to do with the Red Matter, sir? Fire it at the Klingons and start a war in the process?"
"He put that the Red Matter in those torpedoes. And I simply didn't want to burden you with knowing what was inside of them. You saw what that stuff can do," Marcus practically yelled. "Can you imagine what would happen if someone got their hands on it. What else did he tell you? That he's a peace keeper? He's playing you, son. Don't you see that? It is our duty to carry out that sentence before anybody else dies because of him. I'm gonna ask you again! One last time, son. Lower your shields and tell me where he is." Chris took a breath, he didn't like being called son by this man.
"He's in Engineering, sir. But I'll have him moved to the transporter room right away," Chris lied.
Marcus smirked, "I'll take it from here." He ended the transmission.
"Mister Sulu. Do not drop those shields," Chris ordered.
"Aye, sir," Sulu said with a nod. Chris looked around the bridge just as Spock walked over to him.
"Sir, given your awareness that Harrison's true location in the medbay, may I know the details of your plan?" Spock asked.
He nodded, "I using Kirk's playbook on this one. I told Marcus we're taking a fugitive back to Earth. That's what we're gonna do. Mister Sulu, set course for Earth. Warp Six and punch it."
Sulu replied, "Yes, sir."
Jamie
"Well, at least we're moving again," Bones said to the officers in his sickbay. Harrison shook his head before he looked at her.
"If you think this ship is safe at warp, you're wrong," the operative told them. Realization dawned on Jamie as she and Carol both made a mad dash for the bridge.
"Chris!" She rarely calls him by first name in front of the crew so it got his attention instantly. "He's gonna catch us and when he does, the only thing is gonna stop him destroying this ship is Carol. We have to let her talk to him."
Chris looked at her, "We're at warp, he can't catch up with us."
"Yes, he can, sir," Carol jumped in. "My father's been developing a ship that has advanced warp capabilities and I..."
Sulu cut her off, "Sir, I'm getting a reading I don't understand." The other ship caught up with the Enterprise and fired on her, knocking them out of warp.
"Sulu where are we?" Chris asked the helmsman.
"We're two hundred and thirty-seven thousand kilometers from Earth, Sir," Sulu replied from the helm.
"Gimme a Damage report!" Chris ordered. Various officers spoke up starting with Chekov.
"Weapons are down. We're defenseless, sir," the Russian said. Jamie looked at the tactical readouts.
"We have a bulk head breach," Jamie told her husband. "Major hull damage. They're preparing to fire." The other ship, what they now know as the Vengeance fired again. Chris called for evasive maneuvers and ordered Uhura to open a channel.
"Sir, it's me. It's Carol," the weapon's specialist said to her father. The ship stopped firing and Marcus came on the viewscreen.
"What are you doing on that ship, Carol?" Marcus asked his daughter. She took a breath and stepped closer to the screen.
"I heard what you said," Carol started. "That you made a mistake and now you're doing everything you can to fix it. But, Dad... I...I don't believe that the man who raised me is capable of destroying a ship full of innocent of people. And...if I'm wrong about that... then you're just gonna have to do it with me on board." He looked at her for a minute before he smirked.
"Actually, I won't," the other admiral said. As soon as the words left his mouth, Carol was beamed off the ship.
"Jamie!" the scientist screamed as she disappeared.
Marcus glared at them, "Admiral Pike, without authorization and in league with the fugitive John Harrison. You went rogue in enemy territory, leaving me no choice but to hunt you down and destroy you."
"Funny you should say that Alex," Archer's voice filled the room. Uhura hit some commands and split the screen between Marcus and Archer. The older admiral was a sight for sore eyes, sitting in the Bradbury's command chair. "Pike is acting on orders, you aren't." Jamie looked at her screens and let sighed.
"I have the Yorktown and the Endeavor flanking the Bradbury. Archer brought backup, sir," she whispered to Chris. Marcus looked at them through the screen.
"What the hell is this?" Marcus growled. "You think this ends with me, that this war isn't coming? Who is going to fight it, to lead it? A bunch of old men? A little orphan girl? You need me. You all need me." His side of the transmission cut off.
"We need to get on that ship, sir and fast," Jamie said.
Archer looked at her, "I'm guessing you have an idea, Kirk."
"Yes, sir, but my CO is not gonna like it."