CHAPTER 22

"What the hell could be traveling that fast?" Kirk demanded, stepping closer to the main screen as though it would bring clarity to the already magnified image. There was no ship per se, but stars would periodically wink out and then reappear, which implied that the ship's hull had been camouflaged somehow, a disastrous decision for any ship wishing to dock at a busy spaceport.

Spock folded his hands behind him. "There have been rumors that Star Fleet has been secretly researching ways to modify the displacement field created by the matter-antimatter plasma. If successful, it would be possible for vessels to achieve speeds upwards of warp twenty."

Kirk raised an eyebrow at Spock. "I didn't know you listened to rumors," he said then returned to the center of the bridge where he dropped into the command chair. He thought again about the speeds the craft was achieving and felt a faint rush. "Holy shit."

"Without referencing matters of a religious nature, I must concur," Spock replied somewhat grimly. "If this is, in fact, a Star Fleet vessel, then why would central command risk exposing such an advancement? The activities of a long dead scientist are hardly significant, so I am left to wonder what has occurred during our communication blackout."

Kirk stroked his chin and thought what indeed? "Lieutenant Uhura, open all hailing frequencies."

Uhura pushed several buttons. "Frequencies open, Sir."

"Attention unidentified vessel," he began. "This is Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Please identify your—"

An earsplitting whine erupted from Uhura's station and she cried out, ripping the silver earpiece away. "Sir, he's rebounded our frequencies back on us!" she said loudly after cutting the signal. She held a hand to one ear and winced. "He's refusing to communicate outside of a Star Fleet Priority One written correspondence, Sir."

Kirk's eyes narrowed in anger as he stared at the screen. Who the hell in Star Fleet would refuse a visual? Whoever it was, Kirk didn't like him already. He stood and went to Uhura, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right, Lieutenant?"

She smiled weakly up at him and nodded. "I will be, Sir. The written correspondence is coming through now." She transferred it to a datapad and handed it to him. Kirk walked back to his chair as he entered in his access code. When the document appeared, the message was only three lines long:

Star Fleet Agent 544

Section 31

Authorization Code 90A005

A trickle of cold dread pooled in the pit of Kirk's stomach. He recognized the authorization code—one of the few with total and absolute authority just short of the Federation president—and the area in which it originated. Section 31 was a super secret intelligence agency designed to defend the United Federation of Planets, by any means necessary. And without ethical restraint, if rumors could be believed. So many conspiracies were linked with the department that it was hard to believe what was actually true and what was idle gossip, but Kirk did know one thing for sure: the arrival of a Section 31 Agent was not a good sign.

He wondered what could have happened during their relatively short communication blackout to cause such a response—had there been an attack on Earth or one of the other Federation planets? Had war erupted with the Klingons again? Or had some new threat been determined?

"Sir, we are being ordered to open our shuttlecraft doors," Uhura said, sounding indigent.

Kirk's lips mashed flat before he spoke. "Contact the docking bay and inform them that a vessel will be coming aboard."

"Yes, Sir." The order was obviously not the one that Uhura had expected to hear.

Nor the one I wanted to give, Kirk thought. Well, he'd be damned to leave his bridge crew in the dark. "Lady and gentlemen," he announced loudly, gazing at each of them in turn. "We are about to have a guest, or guests, onboard the Enterprise. From Section 31."

Uhura gasped and Chekov mumbled something under his breath that sounded vaguely like "Cossack scum."

Kirk ignored the outbursts. "I have no clue as to why the agent is here or what he may ask of us. As you are well aware, the authority of Section 31 precedes that of a starship captain, so I recommend that you continue to do your duties with the utmost professionalism"—Kirk glanced at Chekov meaningfully—"and if we are lucky, the visit will be a short one."

The last part was probably wishful thinking, but Kirk hoped that it was true. He didn't like the idea of having an agent onboard his ship; he liked it even less that he was cut off from Star Fleet.

"Small shuttlecraft approaching starboard, Keptin," Chekov said.

"Open the doors," Kirk said then pushed himself out of the chair. "Mr. Spock, would you care to accompany me to the briefing room?"

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "Should we not meet the agent in the docking bay, Sir?"

"That would be the polite thing to do, wouldn't it?" Kirk said then turned to Uhura. "Have Security escort our guest to the briefing room, Lieutenant."

She grinned. "Aye, Sir."

The lift seemed to take an eternity to get them to the appropriate level, and Kirk could feel Spock's eyes boring into him.

"What is it, Spock? Spit it out."

"I was just contemplating your order for the bridge crew to continue to act in a professional manner."

"While I have Security escort our guest to the briefing room?" Kirk finished with a wry look. "We've been serving together for four years, Spock, you know me by now. First, I'm not crew, I'm the captain. Second, that rat bastard purposely rebounded our signal knowing that the communication officer on duty would get an earful."

"So this is a childish way of assuaging one's feelings of being disrespected?"

Kirk mulled it over. "I would have went with 'juvenile,' but yeah, close enough. Anyway, it's not about me, it's about respecting my crew and my ship." He let go of the lift-operator as the doors slid open.

It was a short walk to the briefing room, a shorter one than from the docking bay, but when the doors slid open, Kirk was face to face with the coldest looking man he had ever seen. The agent was sitting at the head of the table, one that traditionally belonged to the captain.

"Captain Kirk, Commander Spock. Please, take a seat." He smiled at them, but it was not a friendly one, and his words were not a suggestion.

Kirk hesitated only a moment, chaffing at the man's highhandedness, before taking a seat on the right, leaving a few chairs between himself and the agent. Spock mirrored his gesture on the opposite side of the table.

"You seem to have us at a disadvantage, Agent . . . " Kirk prodded, offering a gracious smile.

"You may call me Gray. Agent Gray."

The name was a fake one, obviously, and the agent seemed to find some amusement in it. Kirk took in the nondescript uniform that was, in its entirety, a solid gray color. Even the man's hair had succumbed to the appeal for uniformity and had turned a slate gray. The only noticeable color in the man's countenance were his brown eyes and the blue-green veins that could be seen beneath his unusually pale skin.

"Agent 'Gray'," Kirk said, emphasizing the phony name with a curl of his lip. "May I ask what brought you to my humble starship?"

The agent looked as though he'd tasted something bitter. "A crim-in-al," he said, articulating the word so that it sounded as if it were three separate words. "An un-law-ful entity, very likely a spy."

"A spy?" Kirk repeated, wondering if the agent was making a bad joke. "You think there's a spy among my crew? Agent Gray, if there is a spy on this ship, I'm looking at him."

Gray shot him a tight-lipped smile. "Did I say that the spy was among your crew, Captain?"

Kirk's mind raced. Not part of the crew? What game was Gray playing? The only person who wasn't an official member of the crew was—

"Aggie?" he asked, incredulous. He glanced at Spock who's neutral face had developed a hardness to the edges. Kirk looked back at Gray. "Are you serious? HQ actually thinks that Aggie's a spy?"

"No, of course not," Agent Gray said, sounding almost reasonable, then said, "I am referring to the entity known as AGEE 1-17, otherwise known as the Augmented Genetically Engineered Ex-peri-ment." Again, he broke the last word into smaller ones.

A nauseated feeling came over Kirk as he realized that the agent was not joking, but was in fact, deadly serious. Speechless, Kirk wondered if they'd somehow slipped into an alternate dimension. When had Star Fleet begun to declare people criminals without a shred of evidence or even a trial? Unconsciously, Kirk fingered the familiar emblem on his shirt. It was not the Earth bisected by a sword, the symbol of the alternate reality's savage Empire, and he felt sharp disappointment. What other explanation could there be for the madness he was hearing?

"Sir, may I inquire as to your intentions in regard to AGEE 1-17?" Spock asked, his voice neutral—a little too neutral, Kirk thought, suspecting the Vulcan was also surprised by the agent's accusations.

"My missions are typically classified," Gray began, sounding distracted, but then continued without looking at either of them. "In this case, however, I can tell you that I've been sent to contain the augment and return it to Section 31 so that its threat level may be determined."

"Threat level?" Kirk snapped, angered by the agent's callousness. "So Section 31 has already determined that there is a threat? How is that possible? You haven't even met her."

Agent Gray looked at Kirk and a smile, like a glacier, slid over his face. "But we've read your logs, Captain. And we were quite concerned when you allowed it access to the ship's Engineering Department. Didn't you find it even a little suspicious that the augment offered just enough information on trans-warp beaming to gain access to the heart of the ship? And after months spent with your chief, has failed to contribute little more of value?"

"Aggie didn't ask to be in Engineering," Kirk countered. "I made the suggestion."

"Yes," Gray said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "That has been noted as well, Mr. Kirk."

"It's Captain, Agent Gray" Kirk said in a voice harder than durasteel. "Until I am officially relieved of my duties, you will address me as such."

Gray's eyes bored into him for a long moment, as though deciding whether to debate him further, but then, abruptly, he acquiesced. "Quite right, Captain Kirk," he said with a slight bow of his head. "You have a reputation for being a most capable leader but that does not change the fact that I have my orders. And surely you are aware of how dangerous augments can be. Kahn, for example." The agent's mask slipped for a moment, revealing a glimpse of near uncontrollable rage. But then his face quickly became smooth and unreadable once more. "He nearly took control of this very ship," he continued. "Crewmembers were hurt. Some were . . . killed. You were trapped in a decompression chamber while your bridge crew was held at phaserpoint in this very briefing room." He looked around as if he could still see evidence of captivity before locking eyes with Kirk. "The augment will be returning with me to Star Fleet headquarters as soon as my ship has repowered itself."

Feeling helpless, Kirk's voice became more reasonable. "Agent Gray, don't you have the authority to determine the . . . the augment's threat level yourself? You've obviously read my last log entry: Aggie was never a warrior like Kahn. She grew up in isolation with an egotistical man who had no regard for the welfare of a child. If you would just talk to her . . . "

"I have read your report, Captain. Moreau himself described it as a weapon," Gray said, sounding apologetic. "I am sorry, Captain. I just cannot take the chance."

Desperate, Kirk was about to argue again when Spock cut in smoothly.

"Sir, I understand that the augment is an unknown to you and Star Fleet, but as you said yourself, the captain is the most capable captain in Star Fleet. Surely his previous experience with augmented life forms can only add to that capability? He has judged AGEE 1-17 to be as she seems—an intelligent individual who has proven to be an asset to this crew. My interactions with her have also led me to this conclusion." Spock touched his fingertips together and said somberly. "I would be willing to offer my services in this matter in the form of a mildmeld. Surely you would include my testimony in your decision as it is well known that Vulcans cannot be deceived in such circumstances and do not lie."

Gray seemed to consider the offer as he studied his nails, but when he looked back up, Kirk could see that the agent never had any intention of accepting Spock's offer. Kirk felt shock as he saw the glint of amusement in the agent's eyes and realized that Gray was actually enjoying their efforts at persuading him. He had no intention of ever evaluating Aggie or letting her stay.

"Mr. Spock, that would have been a viable option," Gray said with an artificial look of regret. "If you had been a full-blooded Vulcan." He cleared his throat as if he were about to read from a dossier. "Your father, Sarek, is Vulcan but your mother is Human, correct? Amanda Grayson, born 2210, on Earth?"

The agent obviously knew the answer but seemed to be expecting a response. Spock tilted his head stiffly in acknowledgement.

"Hmm, pity."

"Now wait a damn minute," Kirk growled, standing up so quickly that his chair fell over. "If you are implying that my first officer would lie—"

"Again, Captain," Gray interrupted loudly, pushing himself to his feet. The blue-green vein on his cheek throbbed. "You are not listening! I am not questioning your Vulcan's honesty, merely his skills in performing a mindmeld with an augment."

Kirk gritted his teeth. Gray was a lying son-of-a-bitch but he was powerless against the authority of a Section 31 agent. In the end, Kirk would have to hand over Aggie or the command of the Enterprise. Were he only to face a court-martial, Kirk would have given Gray thirty seconds to get off his ship, confident that he'd be vindicated by a jury of his peers, but the look in the other man's eyes promised both much more and less than a court-martial. It promised death.

"So what is your plan, Agent Gray?" Kirk's voice dripped acid like Delton Mining corrosives. "To bring Aggie to Section 31 for interrogation? No trial, no jury, just a guilty verdict? And if this capable Star Fleet captain can't be seen fit to bring her to the Federation, what makes a single agent capable of doing so?"

For the first time, a genuine smile bloomed on Gray's face. It looked as though he'd been waiting for the question. "Why by putting it back in stasis, of course."

"WHAT?"

Only Spock's lightning reflexes could have reached the captain before Kirk was able to take another step toward the agent. His head whipped around to glare at the long fingers gripping his arms. Two seconds passed, and Kirk gave a nod that he was in control. Spock let go but did not step away.

"You cannot put Aggie in stasis against her will," Kirk said, trying to control the anger in his voice. "It's against the Species Protection Act of 2020."

"And if AGEE 1-17 belonged to a 'species,' you would be correct," Gray sneered, pushing himself to his feet. "But it is not, and you will do as you're ordered."

Kirk's mind raced for another argument, or law, or anything, that would hold up against the agent's demand, but as reality settled around him with an unwelcome heaviness, Kirk felt himself grow cold. Oh, God. McCoy. What would happen to his friend? He'd refuse to do the procedure, of course, and would no doubt be punished for it. Or perhaps Gray would determine that stasis was too much trouble and execute Aggie outright. Kirk stared at Gray, who was surprisingly diminutive compared to the impression he gave, and felt a wave of revulsion for the man. He wanted to ask if being a sick son-of-a-bitch was a requirement to work in Section 31 or if it was just Gray's own personality.

"The cryo-unit has been partially dissembled for research purposes," Spock said coolly from behind him. "It will take approximately seventeen hours to reassemble and prepare the unit for proper functioning."

A ripple of shock went through Kirk but he kept his face smooth. The cryo-unit had been stored in the Science Labs but in no way had it been taken apart. Spock was lying.

Gray studied Spock for several long seconds and then apparently decided that Spock was Vulcan enough after all, because he said, "Have the unit reassembled and ready for use at 0600 hours tomorrow, or I will deem AGEE 1-17 too dangerous to transport and with the authorization given to me by the President of the Federation, I will neutralize that threat. Until that time, it is to be kept under maximum security in your brig." Gray's jaw flexed as he looked at Kirk. "Should you need these directions explained to you again, I'll be in my ship."

The doors closed behind the agent and Kirk felt Spock's grip on his arms once more. This time it was not in restraint but support. Weakly, Kirk pulled out a chair and let himself drop into it. Spock sat down next to him.

"This is madness," Kirk mumbled before turning wide eyes on Spock. "I can't believe Gray is doing this."

"He has the authorization," Spock said regretfully. "Even though he does not have the right."

Kirk hit the table with the bottom of his fist. "But why? It makes no sense! Star Fleet should try to recruit Aggie for God's sake, not imprison her!"

"The situation is illogical," Spock agreed. "Odd that Agent Gray also appears to have a prejudice against augments. As far as I have knowledge, Aggie is only the second augment to be reanimated from stasis in the last two hundred years."

"Then he's a natural asshole," Kirk concluded, then shook his head in frustration. "Did you see him, Spock? The bastard actually looked happy about putting Aggie back in stasis. Ugh! He couldn't even refer to her as a person, just a thing. I just . . . " Kirk faltered as he remembered how Aggie had grown during her time on the Enterprise. "God, seventeen hours," he said raggedly. "That's all she has left, and she doesn't even know."

"And that is also the time we have to find a solution," Spock reminded him firmly.

Kirk shot his friend a grateful smile. "Quite right, Spock. We need help from higher up, somebody who has tangled with these bastards before, but I—" Kirk broke off suddenly as the image of Quince Waverleigh popped into his head. Quince was a red-headed, steely-eyed Texan who didn't just boast big, he lived big. His friend had graduated from the academy three years before him, had captained the Lexington, and after winning several merits, was promoted to admiral where he had earned a reputation for what Waverleigh called "cutting through the cow patties and getting the job done." If anyone could help, or know of someone who could, it would be Quince.

If only they could reach him in time.

"We need to turn the ship around, try to get beyond the storm," Kirk said quickly. "If we can get a signal to Star Fleet headquarters, we may be able to get some help. There's an admiral there, Waverleigh, he's an old friend of mine."

Spock nodded. "Also a close drinking friend of the president's from what I understand."

Kirk grinned. "She's the only one that Quince can't drink under the table."

"I shall go to the bridge immediately and inform Lieutenant Sulu of our new heading. Lieutenant Uhura has recently recalibrated her sensor relays," Spock said. "But perhaps Chief Scott will have further suggestions on increasing the signal strength. Jim," he continued, lips flattening slightly. "I have little doubt that Agent Gray is monitoring our shipboard communications to determine if we are following his instructions. Should Gray learn of our deception or our plan, I believe he will proceed with his threat."

He did not need to add to kill Aggie for an involuntary shudder to pass through Kirk.

"All right, no intercoms or communicators," Kirk agreed. "Except for the stuff we want Gray to hear."

"Like ordering Security to contain 'the augment,'" Spock suggested. "Which should be done immediately so as not to entice Gray from his ship."

"Yes. Yes, I'll do it," Kirk said softly, but he made no move to stand. He felt conflicted. "Given the circumstances, it would be the safest place for her really . . . I won't tell McCoy till after." Kirk grimaced and muttered to himself. "What in hell am I going to tell him?"

Spock's gaze was steady. "The only thing we can tell him, Jim, and that is the truth: we are doing everything within our means to protect Aggie."

It wouldn't be enough, Kirk knew, but what else did he have to offer? If McCoy had to put Aggie back in stasis, it would destroy him. McCoy would never be able to forgive himself, no matter what the outcome. But what alternative did they have? Aggie's immediate execution? Either way, his friends were going to suffer.

Unless we can get a signal to Star Fleet.

Unlike Tarsus IV, Kirk still had a chance to save everyone.

"All right," Kirk said, standing. "I'll notify Security now, but I'll go with them. Aggie should be in Engineering—I'll explain the situation to her—and I'll send Scotty to the bridge. Fill him in on the problem and get him working on boosting those sensors."

Spock nodded once and left for the bridge. With the chronometer steadily clicking down to 6:00 am standard time, Kirk went to the intercom. He paused briefly to gather his strength, and then hit the button with a closed hand.

"Kirk to Security."

If you are enjoying this, please let me know! (Do you like/dislike anything specifically? what about Agent Gray?)

~Coop