Space Seed: A Different Reality
Chapter 2: Awakening
Two weeks later...StarBase 13…
The Enterprise had arrived three days earlier with the towed ship and with the assistance of Star Base personnel, offloaded the 73 hibernating humans. Since the 20th century cryogenic chambers had the possibility of failing, each of the augments were transferred to a 23rd cryogenic chamber equivalent to ensure any unauthorized awakenings. As Kirk got closer to the star base, he contacted the base commander, an Admiral Westervliet Komack, on his find. The admiral directed a communications blackout from that point on and ordered Kirk and his First Officer to report to him directly upon arrival.
- Admiral Komack's office -
Kirk and Spock were sitting in Admiral Komack's office detailing his recent log entries.
Kirk began, "sir, the humans we found are that of 20th Century Earth. According to my historian and confirmed by the Vulcans, they are indeed who we think they are." He looked across to Spock, who said, "Confirmed, sir. I even access pre-Vulcan High Council records of that era and filled in the gaps in your historical records."
As Komack digested this, he got more and more quiet. Komack was not one to over react and his record was that of a distinguished service record that was known for averting and fixing many crisis in Federation history. Sitting across from Kirk, he took a deep breath, he deliberating chose his next few words carefully, "You know Jim this will shake the Federation's core beliefs and standards of human rights, especially Earth. It brings up uncomfortable aspects of our history that many in the political leadership will not want to deal with.
"How are we going to explain to the Federation council, especially to the government of Earth that we just found relics from a part of our history that we just as soon forget? The events and mistakes that happened during that war created the foundation of how we deal with genetic augmentation and solidified our ideas on how to unify our planet."
"We understand the delicacy of this situation, admiral, but the opportunity to learn from these individuals should be reason enough." Kirk countered. "It would help us understand ourselves better. Perhaps for the better.
"According to my historian, yes, we discovered on the most notable ruler of that era, but from her testimony, he was one of the most misunderstood. What if we discovered one of leaders from a prior time? A Lincoln? Or even George Washington from American history or even talking with Surak himself, "Kirk looked at Mr. Spock, "Wouldn't you want to directly talk to them?"
"Among the group of people that survived, there are representatives from each of the ethnic groups from across the planet. I'd be curious to interview one of the other ones, someone from Europe or North America. Was this a planned trip? Did they have a heading in mind? Or the basic question, why? Why did they leave Earth and not face trial for their actions in the war? What's their perspective on why they left Earth?
"I think it's worth the risk…who knows. Maybe our society may benefit from their knowledge?
"Dr. McCoy in his initial exams of the Augments noted that many of the genetic diseases that we still don't have a cure for now are not even present in the augments. In his examination, he sampled a bit of their blood and found that it has amazing regenerative abilities. He conducted a few tests with 23rd century genetic ailments, especially xenopolycythmethia, which currently has no treatment. The antibodies present in the blood destroyed it. The medical applications of what we've discovered could be extremely beneficial to humans."
The admiral shook his head and wasn't convinced, "Aside from the ban on human genetic engineering, this is going to be a hard sell to the political leadership of the Federation. Currently, I've only provided this information to Fleet Admiral Nogura and his response was cryptic…so, I'm waiting on more information on the political climate on Earth from his perspective on how to proceed. He agreed with me, keep them sequestered and 'on ice' for a while longer until we can get geneticists from the Federation here to examine them.
"He made a special request for a certain Denubolan geneticist to come and examine our 'find.' He's quite old in fact, but was very familiar with the human Augment situation of Earth's history."
Spock raised his eyebrow, "Fascinating, sir. Are you saying that the Dr. Phlox is coming here?"
The admiral was surprised, "How do you his name, Mr. Spock?"
"A long story, admiral. Suffice it to say that Dr. Phlox was instrumental in pioneering the method for Vulcan/human hybrids in the late 22nd century."
"Noted, so, I can understand him coming with his team."
The admiral looked at Kirk, "Keep whatever tests that Dr. McCoy has conducted confidential and any further analysis by your historian also confidential. Until I get more specific guidance from Admiral Nogura, there is effectively a 'gag' order on this information for you and your crew. Am I understood?"
"Understood, sir," Kirk answered.
"Acknowledge, admiral," replied Spock.
As they got up from their chairs…a beep came from the admiral's Comm unit from the admiral's aide outside.
"Sir, a priority one communication from Starfleet command. Admiral Nogura on the line."
"Thank you, commander. I'll take it now." He motioned for Kirk and Spock to stay. Both of them came back and sat down.
He clicked on the unit, "Komack here."
"Ah, Wes…I have the answer for you concerning our 'guests'."
"Sir, before you give me this. I have Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock in my office with me. Do they need to leave?"
"No, since they already know as much as we do, let them stay," Nogura answered.
"Very good, sir. You were saying?"
"The Federation Minister of Defense, Federation council president, and the president of Earth, since this affects Earth mainly, have been briefed and it's going no further than those three individuals for the time being. The Federation president has directed that only one of the augments be revived and questioned.
"Specifically, Khan is NOT to be awakened until a clearer picture of why they left Earth has been established.
"As you know, we already have a notable Denubolan arriving there soon. Please allow him to full access to the Augment once it has been revived."
"No problem, sir. We'll make the arrangements here. Dr. Phlox's arrival is in about 13 hours." Komack responded.
"Good luck to you and keep this buttoned up. Secondly, Kirk and Enterprise are temporarily assigned to Starbase 13 until this event is concluded. I'm sure his crew could use some shore leave. Report to me directly the progress of what you discover. Nogura out." The transmission ended.
When the connection was terminated, Komack looked up at Kirk. "So, does your historian have a candidate for awakening?"
"In fact she does, sir." Kirk answered. "She has suggested that this person, by the name of Amin. She was a trusted advisor to Khan during that time frame and based on what Lt McGivers had found out about her, the person will be the best person to give an accurate account of what happened to them of that time. Being that trusted advisor to Khan, hopefully, we'll gain her trust enough to convince Khan to 'get along' with us."
"Excellent, have the medical team proceed with the 'thawing out' as soon as Dr. Phlox arrives.'" Komack ordered.
- Awakening -
14 hours later in the Starbase medical facility, members of the Starbase medical staff along with Dr McCoy from the Enterprise and Dr. Phlox, whose Denubolan age belied his appearance, clustered around the unconscious human female Augment. Having already removed her from the cryotube, they had moved her to the medical facility to finish the revival process.
Outside the medical facility, security was re-enforced with numerous armed security personnel. Among the viewers of the procedure, Admiral Komack, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Lt McGivers all watched from behind a transparent aluminum window into the procedure room.
In the room, a dark hair, dark skin human of Arabian ethnic features lay on the exam table. The doctors around her monitored her progress as her vitals came up to normal.
"Vitals coming up, doctor," the exam nurse reported.
"Oh, this is exciting, wouldn't you say, Dr. McCoy!" Phlox was asking of him.
"…Call me old-fashioned, but I think we need to be careful what we do here. I don't much like the thought a 'super human' being among us," He countered.
"Doctor, until we gain a better understanding of the patient's mental and emotional state, there's no need to fear them."
The old fears still gripped McCoy about genetics despite his medical background, "I still think this is a bad idea."
"Leonard …may I call you that?" McCoy nodded, "Fear of the unknown is probably what sent these humans into space to be ostracized from Earth. Fear prevents many sentient species from ever truly realizing their full potential. I'm not condoning the acts of the Augments during your history, but not all of them could be evil or bad. Wouldn't you agree?
"Wouldn't Earth be turning its back on these brothers and sisters condemning them to a lonely existence? Wouldn't accepting them into your 'enlightened' society be better for both parties? This is something to consider before you make hasty judgements on them.
"Your captain has kept an open mind as well as your Federation president. So should you," Phlox finished.
McCoy was still not very convinced, but shook his head, "I'm not really sure right now, but I'll give it a fair shake, Phlox."
As Amin woke up from her sleep, she opened her eyes and looked around.
"…where am I?" her hoarse voice mouthed.
McCoy put his ear next to her mouth to hear…she repeated her question.
"You're safe, ma'am. You have woken up in an Earth medical facility." McCoy answered.
"…how long?" again with McCoy next to her mouth to listen to her hoarse voice.
"About three centuries…we'll talk more once you've gain more strength," he answered again.
She nodded and closed her eyes again and went back to sleep.
Monitoring the diagnostic screen above the patient, Phlox and McCoy remarked how even in her unconscious state, her metabolic processes were off the chart into the excellent range.
Outside the medical facility, the four observers watched as the augment fell back to sleep. Admiral Komack looked over to his security chief. "I want 24/7 surveillance on that patient. No one except the medical staff is allowed to enter that room without my verbal authorization."
"Yes, sir." The security chief responded.
"Kirk, I want you and your historian to get some questions ready for when she wakes up. For the time being, I would like her exposure to aliens kept to a minimum until she grasps when she is."
"No problem, sir," Kirk answered.
- Medical Bay Three Hours later -
As Amin opened her eyes again, she thought she was dreaming. The last thing she remembered was Khan calming her fears as they got into the space ship's cryogenic freeze chambers. Fearful of the strange technology, she was confident in her Khan's leadership to get his people through this trip.
Looking around, she noticed she was in a medical facility laying on an exam table. Noticing several monitors on the wall and medical instruments lying about on tables and shelves confirmed her theory. Looking at the wall monitors she noticed they were in English, but the readouts were unfamiliar for her. It looked like basic monitoring screens, but formatted in a way she was not able to decipher.
A human nurse over in the corner of the room noticed she was awake and walked over to Amin.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Very thirsty," she responded in a low voice.
The nurse smiled and went to get a cup of water for her. As the nurse retrieved Amin the drink, she pressed the intercom button, "Doctor, our patient is awake."
"Acknowledged, I'll be right there." The voice over the intercom answered. Amin thought she heard English in an American accent, but wasn't positively sure.
The nurse came back over and handed her the water, "Here you go."
Amin looked to the nurse, and asked, "Where am I?"
Smiling the nurse said, "As much as I'd like to give you answers, suffice it to say, you'll be fully brought up to speed shortly. Right now, you're in an Earth facility and you're not under cryo-stasis anymore."
"What happened to the rest of my fellow travelers?" Amin asked trying to get the nurse to answer more.
"Amin, May I call you that?"…Amin was shocked that she know her name. "All I can say right now is that you're safe and no harm will come to you and your fellow travelers," repeated the nurse.
Amin cringed thinking maybe they were prisoners within the United States. Their space flight got stopped or got caught by the American government. She acquiesced and finished her cup of water, "Very well, I'll be patient," she smiled back at the nurse.
With that, the doors to room opened up and a man in a blue shirt, black pants came in with an electronic tablet of some sort. Amin looked at him as he approached the bed.
"Hello, how are you?" asked the unfamiliar human.
"I'm fine, but where am I?" Amin asked again.
"You're safe in an Earth run medical facility. My name is Dr. Leonard McCoy, chief medical officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise…"
"Wait…you're American?" Amin interrupted,
"No, well, yes. Well, it's a bit confusing. Yes, I'm from the state of Georgia, and I'm from that region of Earth. Amin, you're in the future. I know this is a shocker, but you've been in cryo-stasis for almost 250 years."
Amin was a bit shocked, "…so what happened? Where's Khan and the rest of our people?"
McCoy answered, "They are safe, including Khan, well 72 of them survived, unfortunately 12 of the cryo-stasis tubes failed on the ship. I'm sorry about that." Amin noticed the sad sincerity in his voice.
"The ship is secured here at this base. We are at a star base about 200 light years or so from Earth. I can't give you those details, but you're about to meet someone who is very interested in talking to you about your trip and journey here and more of your specific questions in that regard."
Amin was stunned, 250 years! The journey originally was supposed to take about a 100 years. What had gone wrong?!
"Amin, if you're up to it. I can authorize those people to come and talk with you. According to my evaluation, you're in perfect health."
"Yes, fine, doctor"
- To Be Continued -
Author's NOTE: Since there was hardly any mention of subordinate character names except for maybe one or two, the character of Amin is my creation.