Just a couple more chapters to go!
When Alex got to engineering she hid around the corner with her phaser against her chest. She slowly looked over the corner and saw two men she didn't know in flight suits similar to the one that Singh had been wearing when he was found. There were only two of them so she looked at the phaser she had and made sure it was set to stun, it would be better to take these asshole in alive if she could she decided and she was about to turn and shoot them when a hand suddenly closed over her mouth and she gasped as she was pulled away from the corner.
"Shh, shh," she heard a voice whisper in her ear. "It's alright Lassie, it's just me," she relaxed slightly when she heard the thick Scottish Brogue of the Chief Engineer.
"Mr. Scott," she turned around and looked at him. "They're talking about cutting the air to the bridge," she whispered and he stared at her for a hard moment before he nodded.
"Aye, they can try," he said before he pulled her along with him into a room she'd never been in before. "This way," he said as he led her down a hallway and through some walls of wiring, and then to a ladder that seemed to go up and down into the walls.
"What is all this?" she asked as she looked around.
"You didn't think the ship just ran itself did ya?" he asked as he started to climb down the ladder and she followed.
"No, I guess not," she admitted.
"Engineering Deck B," he said as he stepped off the ladder and then helped Alex off of it. "Come on, this way," he said as he took her down a hallway of extremely tall black shelves that looked almost like servers. She realized the entire room was full of the servers but Mr. Scott seemed to know exactly where they were going. "Ah, here we are," he stopped at one in particular and opened the front of it before he started to look at the small screen on the front of whatever he was looking at. "Aye, they've cut the oxygen to the bridge," he said as he looked at it and then stood up and closed the front.
"What do we do?" she asked.
"We cut off his communication with the Bridge," he told her and the two started to move again, this time to the next row over where Mr. Scott expertly started to pull wires. It was amazing to Alex that he knew without hesitation which row, which wire did what, it was something she'd never be able to do, not like this.
"God I'm such an idiot," Alex whispered as she put her hands over her head. "They're going to court martial me for all of this,"
"What are you going on about?" Mr. Scott asked and Alex looked at him.
"None of this would be happening if it weren't for me." she told him. "Literally none of it, I'm a fucking idiot," she sighed as she leaned against one of the walls of wires and Mr. Scott glanced at where she was leaning before he gently pulled her away from it.
"No Lass, none of this would have happened if that man out there wasn't a pure psychopath," he assured her before he started to lead her back to the other row. He read the screen and then led her down a few more rows to a wall where he turned a knob and then smiled to himself, obviously proud of what he had done. "I've read the madman's journal, he would have done all this with or without you," he said as he turned and looked at her. "The only reason he knocked you out for two hundred years was because he knew you'd oppose him," he explained. "He thought it'd be easier to have you sleep and then by the time you woke up, he'd be the ruler of earth and you wouldn't be able to stop him."
"Singh kept a diary?" Alex asked as she stared at Mr. Scott in exasperation.
"Aye, a real look into the mind of a madman if you ask me," he replied. "When he realized the revolution was coming, he decided to put himself and his people out as well, he figured when you all woke up in centuries none of this would matter anymore, and he would have you anyways," he explained as he looked at a censor reading and then nodded with a wide smile. "Oxygen on the bridge is back to normal," he told her and Alex smiled.
"Good," she said softly before he gestured for her to follow him.
"From here we'll be able to shut down whatever mad idea the man has about trying to take over," he told her and she nodded.
"Good," she said as she followed him. "You'll have to let me read that diary sometime," she added and he chuckled.
"Oh you may not like some of the things he had to say about you," he said and she glanced over at him.
"I have the right to read it,"
"Aye, of course you do," Mr. Scott agreed. "But you should know, he's a bit obsessive,"
"Thanks for the heads up," Alex replied as they got to the ladder and Mr. Scott started to climb up.
Alex followed him up the ladder and was stepping back onto the ground when she felt a pair of hands grab her waist to help her back, she turned, and immediately saw Mr. Scott to her left, a man she didn't know had his hand over Mr. Scott's mouth and was dragging him back, making Alex look at who had grabbed her, and was surprised to see Singh there.
"I don't know how you got past my men, but it will not happen again," he said. Alex gasped as he wrapped an arm around her, locking her arms to her sides, and pulled her back against him.
"No!" she gasped as she tried to thrash against him, but he held her tight.
Alex was trapped as he pulled her from the Engineering deck, to a meeting room where she and Scott were shoved in. There she found everyone from the bridge with the exception of the Captain, she stumbled into the room as Singh pushed her from his arms and she caught herself before looking at him through narrowed eyes.
"I should have known someone would try to foil my plans," he said as he looked around the room, then his eyes landed on Alex. "But I never expected it to be you,"
"Then you obviously don't know me," Alex replied as she straightened up and stared at him, heat rising in her cheeks as anger flooded her. "Let these people go Singh," she demanded. "You're insane if you think you can take this ship."
"Alex," he tutted softly. "I admire your passion, and the way you protect your job, but don't you understand- Once we find what we're looking for, you will be treated as a queen,"
"And what are you looking for?" she asked.
"A place to rule, a new home better than the one Earth could have provided. There are many worlds, many civilizations who are just waiting to be ruled, I have read about them," he explained. 'I have found many hospitable planets who just need a firm hand, one to lead it's people to greatness, and I will lead them to greatness," he told her. "With you by my side, we will have everything we ever wanted."
"You're out of your mind if you think I'd follow you," she replied as she stared at him.
"I do not expect you to follow me, I expect you to lead alongside me," he told her as he took her hand between both of his. "Everything I have done, I've done for you,"
"You're insane," Alex whispered and he looked down at her.
"No," he said. "I am a visionary,"
"I don't believe you," she said simply and he reached out to touch her cheek gently. Alex closed her eyes, turning her head away from him as he touched her.
"I created a world for you," he told her. "I will take a new world just for you,"
"You killed innocent people,"
"For the greater good!" he insisted. "Overpopulation was one of the worst issues on Earth. Laziness, gluttony, sloth, all of it had to be fixed before humanity could be improved," he continued before he stepped forward and cupped her face, turning her head to look at him. "You cannot understand how much work I put in, how much effort I put in to making the world a better place for us, for our children,"
"You're sick," Alex said as she stared up at the rugged, older face of a man she had once known, and who had been a stranger to her all those years before.
"Alex," he said as he stroked her cheek with this calloused thumb. "I wanted to give you the world- now I will settle for giving you a new world. But we cannot get there without this ship."
"Are you seriously asking me to help you commit mutiny?" she asked.
"I'm asking you to help me find a place where we can rule together," he said as he looked down at her. "For hundreds of years, I worked hard for you. I did everything I did for you. It's always been you," he told her, adoration in his eyes as he gazed down at her softly. "I have always and will always love you,"
Alex pulled back from him firmly and was surprised when he let her go. She turned her back to him and laid her hands over her face as she sighed and ran her hands over her face. She took a few steps away from Singh and then lowered her hands and put them on her hips. She looked around the room, the eyes of every person from the bridge were on her and she looked them over before meeting the eyes of the one person she cared about more than she ever knew was possible.
Spock had a little bit of green blood at the corner of his mouth- it was obvious someone had punched him, and she felt anger bubble up in her chest again before she spun around and looked at Singh with fury in her eyes. "You don't love me," she said sharply as she looked up at him. "The things you've done, they haven't been about love, they've all been about control- how could you claim you loved me, you took me away from my family, my friends, you let me live in a world with no one," she said and he looked shocked at her anger.
"I gave you a gift," he said as he took a step forward. "I let you escape the wars, I kept you safe, I had many enemies who would have done anything to get some leverage over me, including hurt you, and I could never let that happen."
"You hurt me Khan," Alex said as she looked up at him. "It's because of you I didn't get to see my nieces and nephews grow old, it's because of you I lost everything, my home, my car, my family," she said as she stared up at him with fury in her eyes. "You committed genocide, and you tried to take over the world like some sort of comic book super villain. I know you think you're Captain America- but you're not. You're Thanos, and you know what, I didn't even get to see what happened to Thanos because you took that away from me!" she felt her voice getting louder as she stared at him. "So fuck you Khan, fuck you for everything, and you know what? I think you didn't put me to sleep because I needed to be kept safe. I think you put me to sleep because you knew I would have done everything in my power to stop you, just like I'm going to do everything in my power to stop you from taking this ship," she hissed.
"I made you better," he said as he stepped forward and looked down at her. "I made you something people could only dream of. I did that for you,"
"You did it because I was a convenient guinea pig," she replied. Khan stared at her for a long moment, shock and disbelief on his face before he glanced up and saw everyone staring at him. He swallowed and then looked back at Alex and then back at his people.
"Take him," he gestured to Spock and Alex looked back at him before looking at Khan.
"Don't touch him," she demanded as two men walked over to Spock.
"You're going to watch your beloved alien die Alex," he told her. "Just like I watched everyone around me die, all for you," he said as he turned away from her.
She stepped forward and shoved his shoulder from behind making him stumble slightly before he turned around and delivered a strong punch to Alex's jaw, knocking her to her knees. She was lightheaded and woozy, especially since she was already feeling sick, her hands pressed into the floor as she blinked a few times, trying to get her wits about her. Her ears were ringing, but faintly she could hear a commotion and she looked up, the room was spinning, but she could see Spock fighting against the men who were pulling him from the room, then she saw Khan kneel in front of her.
"I'm sorry I had to do that," His voice was muffled. "But you were getting hysterical,"
"If you kill him," Alex said through waves of nausea. "I will kill you,"
"You don't know what you're saying," he said softly. She retched and he stood up before looking around the room. "All I need is for one of you to help me." he said. "I just need someone to fly this ship, we'll find a new world, somewhere where you all will be free from this service, you will be free to follow me into the new way of living," he told the others in the room who had settled down slightly, but were still at the edges of their seats.
"Don't," Alex groaned from where she knelt and he pushed her over with his foot. She grunted as she hit the floor on her side, something pressed into her left thigh and she realized she had put the phaser into her pocket. She stilled her back to Khan as he spoke to the others.
"All I need is for you to join me, join me, and you will live in a new world, one without war, violence, poverty, and greed," he said imploringly.
"If that's what you consider a world without violence, I think we'll be okay," Mr. Scott spoke up, his voice dripping with venom and Alex couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Does he speak for all of you?" Khan asked, Alex slowly opened her eyes and looked in front of her, there was only two of Khan's men by the door, watching everyone, but neither of them seemed to be looking at her. She began to slowly move her left hand, making its way down to her thigh before she slowly rolled off of the phaser in her pocket and slipped her hand into her pocket, not taking her eyes off of the men near the door.
"Hey!" she froze when she heard someone call out. "Hey, I have a question for you!" the voice was somewhat familiar, maybe a security officer from the bridge? She wasn't entirely sure.
"What?" Khan asked and she realized that the man was keeping Khan's attention off of her. She wrapped her fingers around the phaser and started to slowly pull it from her pocket before she aimed it at one of the men by the door.
"Do it!" a feminine voice said and Alex squeezed the trigger of the phaser, hitting one of the men at the door in the chest.
She turned and aimed at Khan who darted out of the way, running around the table of the room, before he and the other man escaped the room as Alex kept shooting after them. She sat up on her knees and then stood before she looked at the people in the room. "Where did they take the Captain and Spock?" she asked.
"Medical Lab," Mr. Sulu said as he stood up and walked over to the controls on the wall. "There's a depressurization tank there, they put the captain into it, I'm sure Spock will be next,"
"God, okay," Alex whispered and then looked at Mr. Sulu as he tried the controls on the wall.
"Communications are still jammed," he informed the others.
"Mr. Scott, do you think you can get back to engineering and get communications back up?" she asked and he thought about that.
"Aye, I can get communications back up, but I can't win a fight against a load of them super soldiers," he said and Alex looked at him for a moment before she held out the phaser. "No lass, you need that," he said as he held his hands up.
"Just take it," Alex said as she looked at him. "Communication is more important, take it, get to Engineering and get communication back up, and keep those dicks out of Engineering," she said and he gave her a long look before nodding.
"What are you going to do?" he questioned and Alex sighed before an idea crossed her mind.
"I need to get to my room," she said as she grinned slightly.
"Good luck," he said and she nodded.
"Mr. Scott, I'm going to come with you," she heard Mr. Sulu say and she walked over to the door, stepping over the body of the super soldier she'd stunned and then looked both ways out of the hall.
Alex started running down the hall while the alarms blared, the hallway was red from the emergency lights and she made her way down corridors, and past empty rooms. Emergency protocol dictated people go to the emergency stations, and it seemed like that was what everyone had done. She paused near a doorway, looking at the tools on the table before she stepped inside and picked up the knife on the table. It wasn't what she was going for, but it was better than nothing.
Before stepping out of the room she knelt down and looked out into the hallway, two men were making their way down the hall at a jog, looking into the rooms they passed, no doubt either looking for her, or looking for Singh.
Alex positioned herself on her toes, ready to leap out and do her best to take them on, watching them as they got closer and closer before there was a loud bellow and Thal leapt from an open door in the corridor and grabbed the two men who looked shocked to see the Klingon.
She smiled to herself as she realized these men from her time likely had no idea what Thal was, with his obviously non human features, and leaping from a dark room, it must have been terrifying. She grinned and then stood up, rushing to help Thal who slammed one man face first into the hallway wall, as Alex jumped on the back of the other one and wrapped an arm around his neck in a tight chokehold.
He flailed, trying to grab Alex and pull her away, but she wrapped her legs around his middle and held tight as he backed up against a wall, trying to disarm her tight hold around his neck while he gagged and tried to pry at her arm. Soon he was falling to his knees and Thal was kneeling over the other man, his fist driving into the man's face as he stopped moving finally, then he turned to Alex.
"Let go." Thal said and Alex did just that, the man gasped as she jumped away and Thal kicked him hard in the face. The man fell forward, onto his now bloody face and Thal knelt over him, grabbing his head and then twisting it with a force that no human could have managed, effectively snapping his neck and killing him.
"Nice to see you," Alex said as Thal stood up and looked at the small knife in her hand.
"Give me that," he ordered. "You are trained on much larger things,"
"I agree," Alex replied. "And I was just heading there to get that," she said as she handed the smaller knife over to him.
"Where are you heading after?"
"They took Kirk and Spock to the medical bay, they're putting them into the decompression chamber to suffocate them,"
"I will head that way, you go get your Bat'leth," he told her and she nodded before he put a hand on her shoulder. "Ramirez," he said and she looked up at him. "Do not be afraid to spill blood. Those we fight are weak from their fear, we can overtake them easily."
"Got it," Alex said and nodded at Thal before he turned towards Medical and she headed towards her room again. As she jogged she wondered briefly if what Thal said was true, were they really afraid of hurting the others- maybe, if only because they needed the help, no one here knew how to fly a ship like the Enterprise, and their own ship wouldn't have the maps needed to make an informed decision about the right planet to try and rule.
She made it to her hallway and paused, glancing around the corner to see that the men who had been placed to watch the door earlier that day were gone, likely helping Khan with something.
She moved to her door and punched in the code to open it, and when the door opened she slipped inside and let the door close behind her. The emergency light was on in her room too, but it was fine, she knew exactly what she was looking for and where it was, and when her hands wrapped around the handles of the Bat'leth she turned and stepped to the door before kicking the button next to the door to open it, ready to go out and take out as many as those super soldiers as she could before they ultimately took her out.