"I can see you."

Khan's voice filled the bridge, the lights flickered and dimmed. Nyota was huddled on the floor, all of her shivering besides her lower left leg that felt like it was on fire.

"Finally." She replied.

It had been a few hours since her ordeal with the parasite, since she got burned by the phaser residue. Enlightenment's auxiliary power was struggling, and so was she.

"You have a small craft piggy-backing on the underside of your ship. If I'm right, I think it might be how the parasites got aboard."

"I knew I bumped into something." She told him from the floor. "Ages ago, before I was even in contact with you, the ship hit something. I was sure it was just space debris, I had no idea it latched on to me."

"I'm going to try and board your ship, my question is whether or not this other craft is covering Enlightenment's docking bay doors or not." He explained, "I'm switching my communication to the gofer and flying out."

xxxx

Khan carefully piloting under the Enlightenment. The debris craft was a lot bigger than it looked at first glance. He engaged the gofer's overhead view screen and flew directly under the crafts, looking up for the docking bay door.

"Nyota, I can see the doors, they haven't been blocked." He told her. "I need you to divert whatever power you can to opening the doors, can you do that?"

"Hold on a second." She replied. He was patient as she found her feet, obviously still in some pain. "Khan, I don't know if I have enough power."

"Switch off all terminals you can. Switch our communication to your handheld radio, turn off every comm on the bridge you do not need."

Nyota was quiet a moment, he heard the hum of energy dim. "I still don't have enough power…" She said, a pause followed her. "If I kill the rest of the power on the ship, divert it all to opening those doors, can you find me in the darkness?"

"Yes."

His reply was instant, unconfirmed with his brain, he was willed to save this woman no matter what. He'd come this far, he would not give up now, even if it meant fighting off parasites along the way.

"Do you have a weapon and a light source?"

"Yes. I am equipped."

Silence hung between them for a moment. They both knew the unspoken risks of this. If Nyota switched off all her power to divert it to the doors and it did not work, the auxiliary would not have enough in it to power back up again. If she did this and it failed, Khan would not be able to get to her in time, she would suffocate or freeze before he could get her out.

Khan took a breath, preparing himself.

"Ready when you are."

"Khan, if this doesn't work…"

"It will work, Nyota." He assured her. He would not lose her now after all their efforts. "Once you've killed the power, stay on your radio and start to unblock the bridge doors as best you can. I'll work my way up the ship to you. Okay?"

"Okay." She exhaled. "Doors opening in five, four, three, two, one…"

The communication cut. Khan waited in the silence, eyes glued to the doors above him. After a tense minute, they opened.

Wasting no time, he piloted into the bay, using the ships main lights to see into the docking bay as the heavy doors sealed behind him. He was not prepared for what was illuminated before him.

Carnage. Absolute carnage. Goop and fleshed out corpses covered the floor. Once high achieving officers now barely recognisable mush. Parasites, some the size of ponies, lurked everywhere, feasting on the leftovers and sludge. It was not often that Khan found himself disgusted, but he had to cover his mouth and divert his gaze for a moment.

"Khan, do you copy? Have you made it?" Nyota's voice crackled on his communicator.

"I'm in. It's carnage down here."

"I'm unblocking the door now as best I can, I can barely see." She said. "The computer estimates we have approximately five minutes of breathable oxygen left before it starts being mostly carbon dioxide and argon. The lower levels of the ship have been cut off a lot longer, so I can't imagine there's much left circulating. It'll be pretty thin out there."

"Okay. I'm gearing up and making my way to you now. I'll check in on the radio at intervals. There are a lot of parasites down here, the darkness and silence may be my only advantage."

"Good luck."

Khan rose from the pilots seat.

"Oh, and Khan?"

"Yes, Nyota?"

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"I'll see you soon."

Khan cloaked himself in his hooded coat, drew a scarf around his neck and covered his face, and equipped himself with a few weapons of varying strength.

He released the gofer craft's door catch, letting the hiss of the hydraulics fade into the quiet of the bay and settle on the parasites ears. He heard a choir of their inquisitive clicks and waited for them to subside. Gently, one foot in front of the other, he stepped out of the craft and moved forward. In theory, his plan was simple; time was not on their side, neither were the numbers of allies to enemies, so he would address the parasites in rounds. Bracing himself, he flicked on his light source to full power, startling the parasites and moved quickly, killing as many creatures as he could along the way. When the room fell silent he extinguished the light and made his way as swiftly as he could to the next room.

Nyota was right, oxygen down here was thin. Khan took few, deep breaths, sustaining himself as best he could between burst of fighting and moving up the ship. Reaching his second stairwell, he communicated with Nyota.

"How are you doing?"

"Two floors down," He breathed, "Eight more to go, correct?"

"Correct. You got this." She spurred him on. "I've cleared as much as I can, but I'll admit, I'm a little weak right now. There are some parasites outside my door too."

"It's okay. Just do what you can to stay safe."

"See you soon."

Knowing she was still okay, he pushed himself forward. Only eight more floors to go.

xxxx

Nyota slowly exhaled. She estimated they had about two-and-a-half minutes of clean oxygen remaining.

It was dark and quiet, without the noise of the comms and the auxiliary power running in the background, Nyota could hear the noises of the parasites that loomed outside of the bridge. She stretched her burnt leg out, wincing at the tightness and heat of her own skin. She knew it was swollen, even in the dark. She rubbed her eyes, worried. She could not remember the last time she slept or ate properly, she did not even know what day it was. She was tired and weak, she focused on finding the strength to make it down ten floors to the docking bay.

Nyota's attention was caught as the content stir of parasite noise suddenly dimmed. She shuffled forward on her hands and knees, sitting a little closer to the bridge doors, listening. A few inquisitive clicks pierced the silence, another tense moment of quiet followed, before the corridor outside lit up like fireworks and hammered with weapon fire. She instinctively jumped back, but only being able to see light through the cracks in the doors made it intriguing. Khan was out there, all he had to do was kill those final things…