Jim and his team came to the area where the entrance to the tunnels were. They hid to watch the area a few minutes, but they did not see anything unusual. "They must know the entrance is here," Jim said.
"They might not," Bones replied.
"I'm gonna go out to it and see what happens before the rest of you come out."
"Admiral, I believe it would look more logical if there were two," Spock said.
"Alright…"
"I'll go with you," Carol volunteered.
Jim wanted to protest that but he decided not to. "Okay, but Helek is going too," he said.
"I'm ready, Admiral," Helek said.
"Let's go. The rest of you be on alert."
Jim, Carol, and Helek moved out of their hiding place toward the tunnel entrance. They made it to the entrance which was concealed in a cluster of rocks. Jim entered the code to open the hatch and let Carol climb in, and then Helek. He waited a moment and then motioned to the others to come to him. They all made it into the tunnel.
"Jim, am I the only one who thought that was too easy?" Bones asked.
"No," Jim said. "But chances are that they wouldn't expect us to enter the tunnels way out here."
"That is correct, Admiral," Spock agreed. "However, since this hatch is electronic and had to be opened with a code, it is likely that Cabal would know it has been opened."
"I know. Let's just get moving and hope he's occupied."
Cabal was definitely occupied as Artie and his team were simultaneously attempting break-ins. Since they had the highest clearance, they found it simple to get into the system and even avoid Cabal's attempts to lock them out. As he attempted to thwart their intentions, they were learning more about exactly what his program was and how it worked.
"They are attempting to isolate you," Legion said as he and Cabal were in contact. "It may be a distraction from their true mission. "The GDI do not surrender easily."
"They cannot enter the headquarters building without my knowledge," Cabal replied.
"Unless they know another way in."
"I have not detected any entrances."
"Remember, their admirals know the codes. They may know a secret entrance."
Cabal was silent a moment. He could not focus all of his attention on one thing because of the distractions that Artie and his friends were causing. "They are attempting to access the system," he said. "I cannot focus."
"Then I will send the chosen ones. They will patrol and find them."
Cabal did not like the fact that humans could cause him so many problems. He was supposed to be superior, but they were even routing their connection through so many channels, he could not trace them. Obviously, they had become more advanced since he had been dormant. He had absorbed the information for the new system as had Legion.
Suddenly, a message came to him: We will be victorious, GDI/Starfleet.
Meanwhile, Jim and his team were making their way through the tunnels following the maps they had been given. "How far is it?" Solan asked.
"It's quite a distance this way," Spock answered. "We may pass through some familiar tunnels."
"You mean the ones we were in looking for Doctor McCoy?"
"Precisely."
"Aren't those blocked?" Ajah asked.
"They were locked with codes," Spock said. "However, Admiral Kirk knows those codes."
"I don't think we'll need those unless we're going up into the Academy," Jim said.
"We may be able to get to headquarters above ground, and we may also be able to recruit more help."
"I think it might be better to stay down here."
"What if there are injured?" Bones asked.
"There are doctors there too. We have to try to take back Headquarters. That's our goal."
They passed through the tunnels underneath the Academy which passed by the old water treatment facility. Bones did not care to reminisce about that event. They soon came to the hatch that opened into the underground facilities of the headquarters building. "Alright, everyone ready," Jim said quietly.
They all got on each side of the hatch and got their weapons ready. Jim put the code in that would open the hatch. There was no way to open a hatch without that swoosh of air, and the click of the lock seemed loud in the closed in area.
Jim pushed the hatch back and aimed his phaser in before stepping through. The others came through one at a time and closed the hatch. They were now in a rather concealed area. Jim motioned for the others to follow him as they moved toward the end of a line of crates. They were at the loading dock which was very quiet because it was mostly abandoned.
Jim came to the end of the crates and stopped. "Admiral, let me go first," Anakin whispered.
"Why? Do you sense something?" Jim asked.
"It may seem like we're alone, but we're not."
Jim looked at the others. "Be ready for anything," he said.
Helek's eyes glowed brighter. "We're ready, Admiral," he said.
Anakin went around the side of the crates and the others followed him. He activated his lightsaber as the first foe came into view. Jim was surprised as the human resembled Khan with the same pale-looking skin. However, this being had red hair and green eyes that looked like they were almost glowing.
"You will stop now," the being said. "Or you will be destroyed."
Anakin was not the least bit intimidated by this person. "You're the one who will be destroyed," he said.
"Why do you not join us? You do not have to believe the GDI lies."
"Have you ever tried using that advice yourself?" Jim asked. "You're outnumbered."
"Guess again, Admiral Kirk."
Jim frowned as more of the augments stepped into view, even some behind them. "We're not surrendering," Jim declared.
"You will not be victorious," the first augment said.
"We'll see."
Just as Jim said that, the lights went out and came back on. Jim and Anakin took advantage of that distraction. Anakin summersaulted over the enemies in front of them, and Jim opened fire at the one in front of him. Solan and the others dropped and engaged the ones behind them. Carol and Bones followed Jim as he got from behind the crates.
Helek fired a powerful bolt of electricity at the beings behind them causing them to scatter. They had never met a foe quite like Helek. Ajah moved to the other side of the stack of crates where he could see two of the enemies retreating. Ajah managed to hit their weapons with a bolt of electricity. Helek fired the other way at the other two as Solan and the two Klingons were coming that way.
Spock, Carol, and Bones had gone the other way with Jim and Anakin. Anakin had relieved one of their enemies of his right forearm and hand as even an "enhanced" human was no match for a lightsaber. The other two had no choice but to surrender or be incapacitated in the same way.
"Good choice," Jim said. "Spock, take their weapons."
"Admiral Kirk," a voice said over the intercom system. "I see I have underestimated you and your crew."
Jim knew that was Cabal but he could hear that the voice had a glitch in it. "You'll know just how efficient we are when we're done with you!" Jim declared.
They heard what sounded like the equivalent of a growl. "You are quite clever! But I am supreme!"
"Come on, let's move," Jim said quietly.
"You wanta ask these people anything?" Anakin asked.
"I don't think there's anything they can tell us that we don't already know. Let's just make sure they can't alert anyone of our presence."
Solan and the others brought the ones they had captured. "One of them got away," he said.
"It is safe to say that he will divulge our presence," Spock said.
"Yeah, well Cabal already knows we're here anyway," Jim said. "Let's get these confined and get moving."
"Where do we confine them?" Solan asked. "I don't see a place."
"Follow me."
They all followed Jim through the next section and soon came to an area none of them had seen before. In the back was a jail of sorts, although it looked more like a brig on a ship. "Put them in a cell each and I'll put in a code," Jim said.
"When the prisoners were in, they left that room. "Admiral, do you believe Cabal will know the code?" Spock asked.
"Who knows?" Jim asked. "Right now, I think he's preoccupied with what Artie and his team are doing."
"Perhaps, but since he is a computer program, it is safe to assume that he can do more than one thing at a time."
"I know that. That's why we're splitting into two teams. You take Helek, Grakar, and Anakin. I'll take Ajah, Korax, Solan, and Carol. We have to get into the main control of headquarters and get communications back. With two different teams, he can't focus on all of us at once. Better yet, I want a third team to hunt down Legion. Without him, Cabal will be more vulnerable."
"I'll do it," Anakin volunteered.
"I'll go with him," Helek said.
"Good," Jim agreed. "Solan, you, Bones and Grakar will go with Spock. Try and find a way to disrupt Cabal's controls over the system. Whichever of us gets there first needs to contact Admiral Winston and let him know."
"Yes, Admiral," Spock replied.
"Good luck. You guys go back to the underground, and we'll keep on this route. Expect more of those augments."
"Don't you think Legion will be in the control center?" Anakin asked.
"No. I think he's in contact with Cabal from some other way."
"So how do we find him?"
"Use the tricorder. He's a cyborg, so you should be able to track him down. Not sure what you can do with the Force either."
"I'm ready," Helek declared.
"Good, let's get moving."
They all scattered in different directions. Jim, Ajah, Korax, and Carol went through the next door, but found nothing there. "Don't you think it's strange that there isn't more security?" Carol asked.
"I think they were expecting to easily take over because he's a computer program," Jim said. "He wasn't expecting someone like Artie. Besides that, he hasn't been on Earth long enough to recruit a lot of support."
"Where are all the other people who were occupying this building?"
"That's a good question. I halfway expected them to be in that brig."
"He must be holding them somewhere," Korax said.
"There are a lot of rooms in this building," Ajah said. "Could be holding them anywhere."
"Let's just keep moving," Jim said. "If they're here, we'll find them."
They soon came to another door. Jim shoved it open and had his phaser ready. However, as he came in the door, someone grabbed his arm with an iron grip and jerked him into the room and to the side. Ajah powered up quickly and came in ready to fry someone. There was another in the room who fired a phaser at Ajah, but since he was at full power, he simply absorbed it and grabbed the weapon, giving the augment a powerful shock.
Ajah turned to the one holding Jim, his eyes glowing brightly and his hair looking like a fiber optic display. "Let him go," Ajah said sounding rather electronic.
Jim thought Ajah and Helek were intimidating when they were in this stage of being. "I will kill your admiral if you do not surrender," the being replied.
"That's not gonna happen."
"It will happen if all of you do not surrender!"
"We'll surrender!" Carol said trying to create a distraction.
"Klingons do not surrender!" Korax declared and drew his bat'leth.
With that distraction, Jim managed to duck, and Ajah sent a bolt of electricity right into the end of the weapon the augment was holding. The being not only got a shock, but the weapon exploded. Jim thought his hair would have stood on end had he not been wearing his electro-suit.
"Are you alright, Admiral?" Ajah asked.
"Fine," Jim replied as he picked up his phaser rifle. "We'll have to just leave them here. Let's move."
"Should we kill them?" Korax asked with his bat'leth in hand. "If we leave them here, they will be enemies later."
"We can't just murder them."
"I will follow your orders, Admiral."
As they moved through the next two sections, they did not find anymore guards, but when they got close to the stairwell and turbo lift, they met more…and they were not all augments. "Scatter!" Jim said.
They found cover as their newfound enemies opened fire. Ajah fired a bolt at the group causing them to scatter also. "Where did they find them?" Carol asked as she and Jim were hiding together.
"I don't know," Jim said. "But there are penal colonies."
"They do look like a bunch of ruffians."
Jim fired from where he was and got plenty of return fire. He heard a blast from Ajah land with what sounded like an explosion and heard a wail. Jim looked from behind his hiding place and aimed his phaser at someone's foot he saw sticking from behind their cover. He hit his mark and heard a yelp.
Suddenly, Jim heard blades clang together. He and Carol looked out to see Korax and another Klingon in a bat'leth battle. Jim jumped up and took out an opponent who was about to fire at Korax. He moved to another spot that gave him an open view of the others who were hiding. When they saw they were exposed, they ran for another place as they fired, but Carol and Ajah were ready. Carol took out two of them, and Ajah knocked out three. That left three more…that they saw. However, another had gotten behind Jim and tackled him. They struggled over Jim's phaser rifle, but Jim shoved the butt of the rifle into the other's nose. He fell, but he managed to grab Jim's legs and trip him as he was trying to get up. He tried to grab Jim's weapon, but Jim managed to stop him although he lost it himself.
Jim punched his opponent just as he noticed that the other had an actual nametag: Joaquin. He did not have time to think about that as his opponent grabbed him by the collars and jerked him forward with more strength than Jim would have thought he had. Of course, he had to expect that if this was one of Khan's people. Joaquin also hit harder than most people. Jim thought he felt a bone crack in his nose from that punch, but he returned the punch. He remembered hitting Khan when he was so angry about Admiral Pike's death. Joaquin was no different, so Jim thought he would have to use other measures. He kicked Joaquin backward and dived for his phaser rifle. He did not hesitate to fire, but Joaquin avoided the laser fire. Carol tried to fire at Joaquin too, but he was as agile at avoiding fire as Khan had been. However, Ajah was waiting for him and when he came close, Ajah grabbed him by the shoulders and shocked him into unconsciousness.
Jim blew out a breath, but then he grimaced at the pain in his nose. Korax came over to them. "I believe that was the last one," Korax said as he looked at Joaquin. "Is he dead?"
"I don't know," Ajah replied.
"He should be." Korax lifted his bat'leth.
"Wait!" Jim said. "We don't kill people in cold blood."
"If you do not kill him, he will cause us trouble later, as the previous enemies will."
"It doesn't matter. Now, come on."
They moved on to the stairwell and turbo lift. "Well, I'm not sure which is better," Jim said.
"I know which is quicker," Carol replied.
"Let's try it then, but if Cabal realizes we're in there, he can trap us…or even kill us."
They got into the turbo lift and went up to the fourth floor because the place they wanted to be was on the fifth. "We'll go up one floor on the stairs," Jim said. "Weapons ready."
They all got their weapons ready as Jim opened the turbo lift doors…
Spock, Solan, Bones, and Grakar were going through the underground tunnel until they got to the stairwell, and then they started up. They did not meet up with anyone until they arrived at the third floor. Spock and Solan almost took a tumble down the stairs as Spock was knocked into him. However, Grakar was on the opposite side of the stairs, so he fired at the attacker, who fell down the stairs himself.
Solan stood there a moment trying to stop feeling nervous as he looked at the attacker lying at the bottom of the stairs with clearly broken bones. "I suppose this is going to get more dangerous before it gets better," he said.
"I am certain it will," Spock replied. "Those who take control and dominate do not give that up easily."
They continued up the stairwell trying to be as quiet as possible. "I would think this would be a lot worse," Bones declared. "If they think they're gonna keep control of this building, why don't they have more security?"
Anakin and Helek had not had any luck finding Legion yet although they had fought several enemies who were attempting to guard the building. "I want to stop a moment and see if I can find him in the Force," Anakin said as they came to an empty room.
Helek stood and waited while Anakin closed his eyes and reached out in the Force. He could even detect Jim and the others in the building and a lot of chaos. He tried to tune all that out and finally, he pinpointed a lifeform that was not quite normal. He opened his eyes. "I found him," he said.
"Where is he?" Helek asked.
"He's at the top of this building somewhere."
"The top? Can you tell where Cabal is?"
"There's a big power surge up above us, but that could be Ajah. Let's just keep moving."
The turbo lift doors slid open, and Jim and his team were facing about 10 augments. They stood back and Ajah stepped into the middle of the doorway and let go of a huge electrical blast that scattered their enemies out of their way. That left the way open for them to exit the turbo lift. Jim and Carol darted to the right while Korax and Ajah went to the left. One of the opponents were waiting behind the corner and Ajah gave him a shock. Korax could smell singed hair, but they moved on around the corner as their enemies had found cover again.
Jim and Carol got behind a desk since it appeared that they were in an office. "Jim, this is hopeless," Carol said. "There are too many of them."
"We'll find a way," Jim replied. He looked around the corner of the desk and fired at the ones who were pinning them down.
Ajah went out the side door and went around the office as he noticed there was a back door into the office. If he could get around there, he would be behind their enemies. When Ajah found that door, everyone knew when he came in. He spread out his hands and shocked all ten of the enemies at the same time. Jim and Carol stood up. "Well, I guess that's one way to do it," he said.
Ajah walked over to him, and Jim was sure his hair would be standing on end if he were not wearing his electro-suit. "Shouldn't we collect their weapons?" Ajah asked.
"I think so," Jim replied.
"I believe we should eliminate them," Korax said. "It is not wise to leave such enemies to return."
Jim knew that was probably right but he could not bring himself to kill in cold blood. "They would not hesitate to kill you," Korax said.
"But that doesn't mean we have to be what they are," Jim replied. He knew if he let Korax make up his own mind, it would still be he who gave that order.
"That's right," Carol said, seeing Jim's conflict. "We should stay on the higher ground. We don't want to become what our enemies are."
"I will respect your orders," Korax said, "but it would benefit us if we could imprison them."
Jim nodded. "I agree with that, but I don't know of any other brigs here. There should be some weapons lockers around here. Maybe we can find stun cuffs. Ajah, you and Korax stand guard while we look for them."
Carol followed Jim, and they went out into the corridor which seemed to surround that office as a central point on that floor and branched out in more directions. They soon came to a weapons locker, and they found what they were looking for. However, there were not ten pairs of stun cuffs. "Well, we'll just have to make do," Jim said.
They went back to the office and cuffed the augments together. Even as they were doing that, Jim remembered that Khan was not susceptible to stunning, but he hoped it would be different with the cuffs. "That's the best we can do," Jim said but he could see the look on Korax's face that he thought different. "Let's go."
They made their way to the stairway this time and began ascending to the fifth floor. "There'll probably be more security on this floor," Carol whispered as they could see the entrance to the fifth floor. "Probably why there weren't as many down there. We may be walking into a trap."
Jim thought he always had someone along who was going to point out the worst that could happen. "If they are, we're gonna have to take them out or at least take out the power," he said. "Even Cabal can't run this place without power."
"I can do that if you command," Ajah replied.
"I warned you!" a voice suddenly said over the intercom, but it was definitely glitching.
Jim had his blaster rifle ready as he looked around them, but they did not hear a sound. "Let's keep moving," he whispered.
They reached the door to the fifth floor, but it was locked. Just then, Jim's communicator beeped at him in his suit. He activated it. "Admiral Kirk," he answered.
"Admiral, do you need that door unlocked?" Artie asked.
"Artie?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Well, yeah, we need it unlocked. How did you contact me like this?"
"Cabal isn't as clever as he thinks he is. One moment."
"Wait, Artie. What's on the other side of this door?"
"I can't see that yet, Admiral, but I can unlock that door."
Just as Artie said that, Jim and the others noticed a yellowish gas cloud coming into the stairwell. Jim and Carol had on suits, but Ajah and Korax did not. "Artie, open the door now!" Jim said. He heard the lock click and shoved the door open. He aimed his weapon in as he motioned for Ajah and Korax to get out of the stairwell.
They all hurried from the stairwell, and Jim closed the door. It was definitely the floor they wanted and there was more resistance there as well…a lot more resistance. He supposed that was because this was the main control room where Cabal was, although he did not have a holodeck to show his presence. There were several of Khan's bunch there, and Jim and the others were severely outnumbered. "What do we do now?" Carol asked as they were hiding behind a console.
Jim took the bat'leth off his back. "I'm about to start using deadly force," he said. "We're outnumbered. We're gonna have to get brutal."
"I will be with you, Admiral," Korax said.
"So will I," Ajah added. "You want me to take out some of the electronic equipment in here?"
"I figure this is the main source of Cabal's control over everything. He's got all the networks. He can probably just go over to another one. If Artie and his team could block him out of the other areas of the network and we confine him here, we might stop him by destroying the main core."
"Wouldn't that be downtown?" Carol asked. "At the main control center?"
"He seems to be controlling it from here," Jim said. He activated the communicator that was built into his suit.
"Admiral Kirk!" Cabal said. "You cannot hide forever, and you cannot beat me! Give up or I will have my army destroy you."
"Shut up!" Jim yelled and fired over the top of the console.
"Admiral," Artie answered.
"Artie, are you making any progress at confining Cabal to this area?"
"We are making progress, Admiral, but it is difficult as you might imagine. However, he is cut off from the main computer core downtown. He is isolated to the main control in headquarters."
"So if we take him out here, he won't be in control of the system?"
"Unless he escapes somehow."
"What's the best area to attack, Artie?"
"The main console is what controls all the other circuits in the building."
"But if we take that out, we won't be able to control the rest of the building, right?"
"Um, yes, that's correct."
"That's no good then. We'll just have to think of something. What if Ajah fries part of the circuits?"
"He could perhaps short circuit the program if he could get to the right area," Artie said. "He could diminish Cabal's ability to function."
"I'm ready to try anything to get him out of here. I'll get back to you."
Jim got over to Ajah. "Do you think you can short circuit Cabal without taking out the whole system?" Jim asked.
"I am not sure, Admiral," Ajah replied. "I believe Helek would be more skilled at such precise control since he works with precision all the time."
"You have to try. Remember, you're the one they called the right formula."
"I will try."
"That's all you can do. We're gonna try to keep the others distracted while you figure out where he is."
"It is very difficult to avoid so many, and we have not had as much luck eliminating any of them."
"Admiral Kirk!" Cabal said. "You forget, I also control the sprinkler system in this building!"
Jim was alarmed. "Ajah!" He grabbed Ajah and shoved him under the console they were behind just before water came streaming into the room from the sprinklers.
Ajah reined in his electricity. "Well, so much for that idea," he said as he looked at Jim with only pinpoints of light in his eyes.
"If we try to shoot them, it'll just make it worse," Jim said.
"We need a way to get over there to the console," Carol said.
Just then, Spock came in along with his team which included Solan, Grakar, and Bones. "The odds just got a little better," Jim said as Spock got down beside him. "We have to figure out how to get past these guards. Cabal is there working the main controls."
"Admiral!" Artie said in Jim's earpiece.
"Go ahead, Artie."
"He's travelling."
"Who? Cabal?"
"Yes. He's going through the system. He got past a hole in our net."
"Where's he going?"
"It's hard to track him when he's moving but when he stops, I'll know. He seemed to be communicating with someone."
"That may be Legion. Can you tell where he's going yet?"
"Not yet." Artie was silent a moment. "I've lost him completely now, and I cannot detect the other…"
Suddenly, there was a lot of static. "Artie?" Jim said, but he did not get a reply.
"You lost communication?" Carol asked as she was still firing over the console.
"Yes. How did he manage to do that?"
"Perhaps we've underestimated them."
"They had him isolated, but he managed to break free."
Carol thought about that a moment. "He's not truly a virus," she said. "Although he is an alien computer program."
"I'm sure Artie will figure it out. Right now, we have to try and get this place under our control." Jim took a flash grenade from his pack. "Get ready." He activated the shield on his helmet and threw the flash grenade over the console. It exploded in a brilliant flash of light, and Jim even heard a wail. Even Khan could not have withstood a flash grenade. While they were all distracted, Jim and the others all swung into action because they knew their enemies would recover quickly.
"Don't move!" Jim yelled as he got his rifle in position. He could see the anger in the eyes of the ones he was covering. He was sure it was because they were used to being superior.
"Now what?" Solan asked. "We don't have anywhere to keep them."
Jim saw Korax glance at him. "We'll just have to figure that out," Jim said. "Look in the weapons locker and see if there are any stun cuffs."
Solan went to the locker and found what they needed. "You think these are gonna work?" he asked quietly.
"We'll see. At least we have them under control for now. At least the sprinklers stopped."
Ajah was standing up now that the sprinklers were off. He looked at the water on the floor around him. "I cannot power up here," he said. "I would fry all of you."
"That's fine," Jim replied as he got over to the controls. "He shut the system down. No wonder I can't talk to Artie at all now."
Carol was standing beside him. "The whole system?" she asked.
"Yes, the whole system. It'll take days to figure this out."
"In the meantime, he will be impossible to locate."
Jim almost slammed his fist down on the console, but he restrained himself. "What could they be planning?" he asked.
"It is impossible to know," Spock said. "However, it is one consolation that they no longer have use of the system."
"Don't try to look on the bright side right now. This is serious."
"Perhaps we could persuade one of our prisoners to talk."
Jim looked at the ones they had cuffed together now. "What would it take to get them to talk?" he asked.
"I am not certain, but I would do a mind-meld."
"A mind-meld!" Bones exclaimed. "I don't think that would be a good idea."
"Why not?" Jim asked.
"Because we don't know all their capabilities. They could hurt him or damage even his Vulcan brain."
"He's right about that," Carol agreed. "We don't know enough about their capabilities."
"Let's contact Helek and Anakin and see if they found anything yet."
Jim activated the communicator in his suit, glad that he had a way he could contact them from this distance. "Anakin, Helek."
"I'm here, Admiral," Helek answered.
"Have you guys had any luck at finding Legion?"
"No. We were tracking him, and he's suddenly gone from there. Anakin doesn't think he's in the building."
"You're most likely right. He and Cabal shut down the system."
"I bet I know why they did that," Solan said.
"Why?"
"They didn't want us to use that ion cannon to destroy that temple over there."
Jim knew that had to be right. "We have to get this back on," he said.
"It may be too late by then. You remember what the Admiral said about what Kane probably has with him."
"He is correct," Spock agreed. "We should start moving that way to stop him."
"Yeah, and we have to even be careful at that because we could set off the explosion ourselves," Jim replied. "Artie needs to get this system back on, we need high security and we need to get all these prisoners into cells."
"I will oversee containing the prisoners, Admiral," Spock said.
"Thank you, Mister Spock."
Just then, Helek and Anakin arrived at the command center. "Wait!" Ajah said. "Helek, the floor is wet."
Helek reined in his own power and came on in with Anakin. "They gave us the slip," Anakin said. "It wasn't easy to feel him in the Force though. He doesn't read like a normal person."
"He's not normal," Jim replied. "He's a cyborg. Who knows how much of him is electronic?"
"So what should we do?" Carol asked. "There aren't enough of us here to spread out much."
"We have to get in touch with Admiral Winston and get some more people here. Hopefully, Cabal and his pal won't come back."
Jim sent a signal to Admiral Winston and got an immediate reply. "Admiral," Jim said. "We have a problem."
"What's happening, Mister Kirk?" Winston asked.
"Sir, we believe Cabal and Legion have left the building. We need more people here so we can go out after them without losing control again."
Admiral Winston was silent a moment. "There are some there. They're on their way to you now. What's the situation?"
"We have several prisoners and no place to keep them. We don't know where Cabal has gone but we believe he has gone with Legion. He's not in control of the building anymore wherever they are. Doesn't seem to be in the system at all."
"You're right, Admiral," Artie said. "I'm not detecting him at all in the system."
"How could he just travel like that? It's not like he's a human being."
"Perhaps Legion has a way of transporting him. I would like to point out one thing…the earth defense array in space has been shut down."
"Kirk, you know what that means," Admiral Winston said. "We have to stop them. They've raised that temple, and that is most likely where Legion and Cabal are going. They're gonna resurrect Kane, the worst of the lot."
Jim looked around at his team who were all there with him now. "All I know to do is use the Enterprise," he said. He switched frequencies on his communicator. "Scotty."
Jim did not hear anything for a moment, but then Scotty answered, "Yes, Admiral."
"What's all that static?"
"I'm not sure, Sir."
"Scotty, is the Enterprise ready?"
"No, Sir. There are more problems popping up. Seems like every time I fix one thing, something else happens. The weapons systems are completely offline now, and I cannot figure out why."
Jim sighed with frustration. "He sabotaged the systems before he left," he said.
"Looks like it, Sir. What's going on?"
"A lot of trouble, Mister Scott."
Just then, there was a lot more static. "Scotty?" Jim looked at the others. "Can you hear me through the communicator?"
"No," Solan replied. "How are they doing this?"
"They're sabotaging things so we can't stop them."
"What do you suggest we do, Admiral?" Spock asked.
Jim was trying to think. "Once those others get here to take over this building, they can deal with all this. We're going back to Solan's ship and getting back to that hangar. We have to move." Jim tried to contact Artie again since he was on a different system. "Artie, can you hear me?"
"Yes, Sir," Artie said, but even he had static to contend with. "Looks like they're trying to locate this system, Sir."
"We don't need to let them do that or we won't have any communications at all."
"I'm not sure how he could find it."
"Well, obviously, we're dealing with a complicated enemy, and who knows where they've been all this time absorbing technology and information?"
"You have a point there, Sir."
Just then, the team's replacements came in. The leading officer stood at attention before Jim. "Commander Brown reporting as ordered, Sir," he said.
"At ease," Jim replied. "Get these prisoners into a brig if possible, and make sure they are well-guarded. They are not to be left unguarded, do not take the cuffs off them for any reason, and do not let them out for any reason. They are very dangerous."
"Yes, Sir," Brown replied, looking rather nervous.
"If there are any problems, report them directly to Admiral Winston. You know how to do that, right?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. We have to get moving."
Jim and his team headed out, being careful until they were outside. "Where could they have gone without a ship?" Spock asked.
"I don't know but who knows whether they had one waiting or not?" Jim said. "Let's just get moving."
They got out into the forest where Solan's ship was still waiting. He got the boarding ramp down, but before they went inside, someone yelled, "Admiral!"
Jim whirled around with his phaser rifle ready, as well as the others on the team, but they realized who was coming toward them. It was none other than Jayla. "You could have gotten shot," Jim said.
"I have never known you to be careless, James T," Jayla replied.
"Don't tell me, you have a bunch of people out here with you?"
"Not this time, but I would like to join your team wherever you are going."
"Come on then."
They all went into Solan's ship and were soon on their way back to the hangar where Admiral Winston was waiting for them when they arrived. Jim was the first down the boarding ramp. "We don't know where they're going," he said as he met up with Admiral Winston.
"We're pretty sure of where they're going. It's time to put our other options into motion," Winston replied.
"And just how do we do that? That's on the other side of the world."
"We have transports."
"I hope they're fast."
"They are."
Jim looked at the others with him. "Looks like we're gonna learn a new way to fight," he said.
"We're ready, Admiral," Solan replied eagerly.
"We will be with you," Spock agreed.
"Yeah, jump in the middle and work our way out," Bones said.
"The Klingons will fight," Grakar declared. "More are on their way. We will fight against this threat beside the humans."
"Well, you can't ask for a better army than that," Jim said to Admiral Winston.
They followed Admiral Winston over to the other hangar where the weapons were stored. McNeil was there inspecting the weapons along with other technicians. "They'll be ready to go soon," McNeil said.
"We're most likely gonna have to do this without communications," Jim replied. "Cabal did his work.
"That's not surprising. He's very efficient, but we have a different way of communicating."
"How?"
Jim followed McNeil over to what looked like a big trunk, but when it was opened, several sections folded out and they contained what looked like watches. McNeil picked one up and showed it to Jim. "We'll communicate through these," he said. He activated the "watch" which had a small display screen.
"I have to say I've never seen anything like this," Jim said.
"Cabal won't be able to interfere with these."
Jim fastened the device around his wrist over the sleeve of his suit he was still wearing. He looked around at his team as they were all grabbing their own communication devices. "Bones, I'd like you to find out whether our suits will protect us from the tiberium," he said.
"I don't know how to do that," Bones replied. "As far as I know, there's none of this tiberium available, and there are no records of the research that was done with it."
Jim looked at Mac. "What do you know about tiberium?" Jim asked. "How can we find out its composition?"
McNeil seemed to consider that a moment. "There should be something about it in the medical records," he said.
"There is," Bones declared. "But there is no tiberium to experiment with or to analyze. Without the actual stuff, how can we find out if the suits are impervious to it? I can try and find a cure if someone gets affected by it, but we have to have a sample to test the suits. And besides, that would be more in line with Spock and Carol's department. I'm already looking into finding a cure, and so are the Vulcans."
"We'll just have to hope we can stop them before they activate any of that," Jim declared.
"Good luck with that," McNeil said. "If they can do it, that's their ultimate goal, and this planet will be plunged into war again."
"We're gonna prevent that if we can. I have people working on everything."
Over the next two days, McNeil went over explanations of how to use the equipment they were about to use. "I can't believe we have to go out there in stuff we've never even seen," Bones declared.
"Doctor, I do not believe it can be any worse than your flying an alien ship and crashing to the planet below," Spock said.
"You always have to point that out, don't you?"
"At least most of these will be on the ground."
"Guys, let's try to keep it down," Jim said.
"I'm ready to go," Solan said enthusiastically. "I'm always in for some new equipment. I get to fly one of these things. What did he call it? And orca flyer? I can see where it got that name, except for the color."
"Me too, but I think Bones here is going to stay on the ground."
Bones folded his arms. "You all think you're funny. It just so happens that I may stay here in case anyone becomes infected…"
"Oh, no, you're going," Jim said. "You will be with the medical team, but you're going. We won't have time to get all the way back over here for help."
"Right. It'll be like Mash all over again."
"Especially with you around to make all the wise cracks." Jim frowned. "I can't communicate with Scotty on the Enterprise. He's still trying to work the bugs out of the systems. The ship could be helpful in this situation."
"We must work with what we have, Admiral," Spock said.
"I'm gonna be flying a ship too," Anakin said.
"I'll be with you, Jim," Carol added.
"I shall fly a ship as well," Dapodi declared.
"Korax and I will be on the ground," Grakar said. "We will use the ground equipment. Helek will be with me, and Ajah will be with Korax. We will all fight on the ground."
"We may all end up on the ground before it's over," Jim said. "Good luck to all of you." He hoped they would all meet back there again.
Jim and Carol climbed into one of the flyers. Jim looked at all the controls and began prepping for flight. "This might be bumpy at the start," he said.
"Kinda like our relationship?" Carol asked.
Jim looked at her. "I think that has smoothed out a whole lot."
"Oh, I agree." Carol kissed him. "We'll get through this together."
Jim was worried about this mission. It was unlike anything they had ever faced, but he knew the resilience of his team…