Jim and Carol walked into the conference room where Admiral Winston waited. "Have a seat, Admiral Kirk," Winston said.
Jim and Carol sat down at the table where Admiral Winston sat at the end. "Carol came with me to take notes," Jim said.
"I'm not sure there should be any record of this meeting."
"No one else will see it."
"It won't go into the system," Carol said as she adjusted the settings on the pad.
Admiral Winston was silent a moment. "We have more information," he said. "We know that the tiberium Mac left Pacifica, but he did not leave it unscathed. Some people there have become infected with tiberium."
Jim's mouth dropped open slightly. "Well, Bones can…"
"I've already informed Doctor McCoy before you got to this meeting. He's sending them information on how to treat it. This is not even our worst problem, Kirk."
Jim rubbed his forehead. "Artie is still trying to find out more information, and so is our Mac," he said.
"I know that, but Artemus is the one who informed us about Pacifica. But our Mac and the others have found out that there was a secret chamber in Egypt, and there were two cryotube chambers there that are now empty."
"Do they know who was in them?"
"They're guessing that it was Doctor Elena Petrova and General Raveshaw." Admiral Winston went over to the display and brought up the information. "Doctor Elena Petrova is enhanced with tiberium herself. She was the experiment that helped perfect the enhancement and led to the creation of Khan and his people."
"So where are they now?"
"We don't know for sure, but her research facility in the middle east was destroyed, so I'm guessing she would align herself with someone who could provide what she needs. There are others who have been researching the tiberium." Admiral Winston looked at Carol. "Including your own father when he headed Section Thirty-One. That ship he had was not a normal ship, and it was taken for research. Section Thirty-One was shut down…or so it was thought."
"You mean, it's been moved somewhere else?" Jim asked.
"Absolutely. It has become part of Daystrom, the research facility that has been responsible for a lot of trouble, and they have a new facility that was built in space as a space station. They are one and the same."
"Are you saying you think they have paired up with this Petrova?"
"I wouldn't put it past them. This is where everything gets complicated."
"More complicated than it already is?"
"Intelligence is telling us that the overlord is in contact with them, and they are looking to try and get him back to his galaxy so he can perfect his own race of people with the technology that was used by Cabal to create the borg."
"And he…" Jim sighed. "How are we supposed to stop them?"
"You will have to find them."
"Me?"
"Admiral Kirk, what did I tell you before?"
Jim frowned. "Yes, Sir. And you think there's connections between them and others in Starfleet?"
"I do. I'm pretty sure of it."
"And you think they would go so far as to try and take you out?"
"Power and money bring those things about, Kirk. You should have seen that yourself."
Jim nodded. "But why would they want to take me out?" he asked.
Admiral Winston chuckled at that question. "Why do you think?" he asked.
Carol looked at Jim. "You and the crew outsmarted Legion and Cabal," she said. "We were able to stop them from taking over the ion cannon and used it against them."
"Right," Jim said. "So we have to locate them and stop them."
"Either that or things are going to get a lot worse," Admiral Winston declared.
"Where is Daystrom supposedly located?"
"I don't know, but someone somewhere has to know."
"And we're supposed to figure this out. Then what? Do we destroy it? Do we invade it? Shut it down? What?"
"Whatever is necessary. Someone has infiltrated Starfleet, and we need to know who and what their angle is. I trust you because I know you will not betray me."
"I appreciate that, Sir, and we will do everything we can."
"You have access to many more resources, and I want you to use them." Admiral Winston leaned forward. "Admiral Kirk, if anything happens to me, take charge. No matter what happens, do not trust everyone." He passed a piece of paper to Jim. "That is for your eyes only."
Jim swallowed hard. "Yes, Sir."
"You took command of your ship when no one thought you should be in charge. Remember that, Admiral Kirk."
"Sir, this is totally different…"
"No. It is not. You have people who are loyal to you."
"Yes, Sir. But wouldn't that be mutiny or something?"
"Not to all the lives you will save. You have to think about that. Don't think about right and wrong protocol if it comes to this."
Admiral Winston stood up, so Jim and Carol did as well. "We'll do all we can, Sir," Jim said.
"Dismissed," Winston replied. "And, Kirk, if anything were to happen to me, please protect my family."
"Yes, Sir."
Admiral Winston left the conference room. Jim just stood there, and Carol walked over in front of him. "Jim, what are we in the middle of?" she asked.
"I don't know," Jim replied. He looked into her eyes. "But I need you beside me."
"I wouldn't be anywhere else. What do we do first?"
"I have to get with Solan and some others. This has to be kept a secret."
"I know."
"We'll meet in here. Find Solan, and tell him to get as many together as he can. We need the Jedi and Michael Burnham, as well as McNeil, and our Mac. We need to all talk about this at once, so it doesn't have to be repeated."
"Make a list of everyone you want at the meeting. We will see to it."
Jim frowned. "I have to get my strength back. I'm just not at a hundred percent yet."
"I know, but we will take care of things until you are."
They walked out of the conference room, and Anakin was outside the door. His eyes still glowed slightly from his encounter with the mycelial network. "Admiral, I need to talk to you," he said.
Jim nodded. "We can talk in here," he said.
"I'll get on all this," Carol said.
Jim and Anakin went into the conference room. "What's up?" Jim asked.
"There's something weird on this ship," Anakin said.
"What do you mean?"
"I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something that just isn't right. You shouldn't trust everyone. Are there new people on this ship?"
"I don't know. I will have to ask Spock about that. What do you mean, something isn't right?"
"There's something different on the ship. It's not like everyone else."
"Can you pinpoint it?"
"No. It's elusive, like it knows."
"Is it a cyborg? A Jedi?"
"I don't think it's exactly like Legion, but it is not exactly all human either, and I think it's enhanced with Tiberium."
Jim frowned. "You're staying aboard, right?"
"Yes. Padme is recovering here."
"Okay. If you detect anything else, let me know."
"I will. Just be careful around people you don't know."
Jim left the conference room, and went to the Bridge, hoping to find Spock. Instead, he found Sulu in the captain's chair. "Mister Sulu, do you know where Spock is?" Jim asked.
"Not at the moment," Sulu replied. "He asked me to watch the Bridge while he took care of something."
Jim moved closer to Sulu. "If anything weird happens, don't just dismiss it," he said quietly. "There may be an infiltrator on the ship."
"Yes, Sir."
Jim turned and left the Bridge. Sulu looked around him at all the people he did not know. He suddenly felt very alone.
Jim went to the medical bay. Bones came to him when he saw him. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No," Jim replied. "Well, yes, but not medically. He looked around them seeing no one within earshot. "Do you know everyone who is working in this medical bay?"
"No," Bones said. "Why?"
"Anakin thinks there could be an infiltrator on this ship."
"Great. How are we supposed to know this infiltrator?"
"I don't know, but Anakin says whoever it is may be enhanced with Tiberium. We don't know everyone on this ship."
"I suppose I could scan everyone."
"Can the medical tricorder pick it up?"
"Sure. It's in the database now."
"I don't know how we're going to do this, but we can't have someone giving information to the enemies, and they may help them get aboard this ship."
Bones sighed. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.
"I don't know yet. I'll let you know."
Jim left the medical bay. As he walked down the corridor, he met Spock. "Just the Vulcan I was looking for," Jim said. "We have a problem."
"I have been informed," Spock replied.
"By Anakin?"
"Yes."
"How are we going to find them?"
"I do not know. There are many new people aboard the ship. If we try to scan all of them, our infiltrator may realize they have been found out."
"That's true, but if we don't do anything, they may help our enemies get aboard this ship."
"Perhaps we should let them remain anonymous for the time being. It may help us find out how our enemies are able to get into our systems."
"If someone is aboard this ship, they have access. I would still like to see all the new people. After all, I was just promoted to Fleet Admiral. I want to know all my new subjects."
Spock raised an eyebrow. "Congratulations on your promotion, Jim. I had a pressing matter after your ceremony."
"That's alright, Spock. Has Carol talked to you?"
"Yes, she has. We are creating a private meeting with all our friends who we know are trustworthy."
"Good. We can't have anyone at that meeting that we don't know."
"It will be done, Jim."
Jim walked on down the corridor and took out his communicator. "Solan."
"Yes," Solan answered.
"Are you on the ship?"
"Yes."
"I need to see you."
"I'm at my ship in the shuttle bay."
"I'll be there."
Jim walked down to the shuttle bay where Solan's ship sat. He walked up the boarding ramp. "Solan!" he called.
"I'm up here," Solan replied.
Jim walked up to the galley where Solan was, but Una was there as well. Jim did not want to distrust anyone like Una Chin Riley, but he was apprehensive. "So, what's going on now," Solan asked.
Jim rolled his eyes at that question. "Oh brother," he said. "You wouldn't believe it. But I have a job for you."
Solan sat down at the table, and Jim sat across from him. "You heard of Daystrom?" Jim asked.
"Yeah," Solan answered.
Jim noticed that Una nodded as well. "We have to find their hidden base," he said.
"Hidden?"
"Yes. They have some hidden space station, and we have to find it. Admiral Winston thinks that's where our enemies are congregating and getting help. We have to find out what they're doing."
"How are we supposed to do that? They know me."
"Oh I know, but someone knows something."
"So you want me to snoop."
"Right."
"I'll be glad to snoop with you," Una said.
Jim almost smiled at that, but he thought Solan looked at little embarrassed…or something else. He knew how much it had hurt him when Priscilla died. "Well, we need to find them," he said. "This is getting more dangerous all the time, and Admiral Winston thinks he's in danger of being…assassinated."
"You're kidding," Solan said.
"That's not the half of it. We're getting a meeting together of everyone we can trust. Have you heard from McNeil or Michael Burnham?"
"The last I heard they were out there trying to find information. They both know more about this than we do."
"Alright, let's find out everything we can before our big meeting."
"We're on it."
Jim left that ship. He had not asked Spock if he knew where Michael was. He wondered if she and McNeil were working together. They both seemed to like working undercover and they both knew a lot about the Scrin and others that were involved in that war. He went back to the medical bay. Of course, Bones saw him when he walked in. He came over to him. "Well?" he asked.
"Well what?" Jim asked.
"What's going on?"
"A lot, but I did feel just a little dizzy."
"Lay down there."
Jim lay down on the medical bed. He felt sleepy. "I need to get over this, Bones," he said.
"It takes time. I'll give you a hypospray of some vitamins and stuff, but you have to take it easy."
"I haven't done anything strenuous. All I did was talk to people."
"Yeah, about stressful things."
"Just give me the hyposprays. This is no time for me to be lying down. I'll rest for a while, but I can't for long."
"A while is good. What did you find out?"
"Nothing much. We're still gathering information."
"Just let me know what you want me to do."
"You're going to be in our meeting."
"Yeah. Carol was here earlier."
Jim just lay there while Bones worked on his injury more and gave him two hyposprays. He could hardly believe that Admiral Winston thought he could take over Starfleet if something happened. No one would listen to him. He looked at Bones. "Bones, what if…"
"What if what?" Bones asked.
Jim was not sure what he wanted to say. "Never mind."
"Come on. You might as well go ahead and ask."
"What if…oh, I don't know what to ask."
"Jim, you're letting yourself get too stressed out about this. There are other people working on this too."
"I know, and most of them are under my command."
"What did Admiral Winston tell you?"
"I'm gonna discuss all that with all of you when we get to our meeting."
"Which is when?"
"I don't know. When everyone can get to the ship."
"Why can't you just tell me now? I'm your doctor. I have a right to know what's stressing you out."
"Not really, but…I don't think we should talk about it in here."
"Why? You think someone's listening?"
"I don't know. Anakin said he felt someone on the ship. He wasn't quite sure what it was. I already told you that."
"Well, no one in this medical bay is enhanced with Tiberium."
Carol had talked to Spock about the meeting, and she had already contacted Ajah to get in touch with Helek and some others. Artemus Gordon was coming down the corridor. "I found Michael Burnham and Mister McNeil," he said. "They sent an encrypted message."
"How did you get it?" Carol asked. "I got it before I came aboard the ship. They are on Caleb Four and have been on Magas Three."
Artie frowned. "Well, yeah, so they can't get here in time for this meeting."
"That's fine. They're looking for information and that's what the meeting is about anyway."
"I have to admit, I'm rather anxious about this."
"We all are."
About an hour later, Jim was in the conference room while his most trusted friends arrived. He put his hand in his pocket and felt a piece of paper that he had forgotten about. That's for your eyes only, Admiral Winston had said. He thought he better read that later. Spock and all the others sat down at the table, and Jim sat down. "I know some of you know what this is about," he began. "And some of you don't. We are on a top secret, and dangerous, mission. I wish everyone was here, but some could not come, and we can't broadcast this even over a secure channel. I really don't know where to begin. You all know about the tiberium and all. Well, there's more to it than that. Most of you probably know that the Mac from the other universe infected Pacifica with tiberium." Jim looked at Bones. "That's been taken care of, right?"
"It's being seen to," Bones replied. "I told them what to do."
"Good. Now, to the new stuff. No one is to talk about this to anyone who is not in this room," Jim declared. "This problem with Section thirty-one is not over, and it goes much deeper. We know that they were doing research on the tiberium at that time, and now, we believe they have teamed up with Daystrom." Jim looked at the surprised looks in the room. "Admiral Winston believes they will try to assassinate him to take over Starfleet, and they intend to help the overlord perfect the technology for his people the same way Cabal created the borg. Admiral Winston wants us to stop them at all costs. He wants us to get into that lab some way and find out what they're doing."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Spock asked. "They would surely know us."
"I'm trying to figure that out. Admiral Winston has left this to us. He said he is telling me all this because he knows he can trust us."
"And he thinks someone is going to assassinate him?" Bones asked. "What is going to happen if they do? Are you leaving something out?"
"He is," Carol said. "You might as well tell them now."
Jim frowned and stood up. "None of you can breathe a word of this to anyone right now," he said. "That's an order."
"Well, you know it's gonna be bad when he says that," Bones remarked.
"Bones."
"What are we getting into?" Solan asked.
"I'm not even sure how to say this," Jim said. "He said he promoted me because he trusts me. He also said that if he is assassinated…he wants me to take over Starfleet."
Jim did not know if he had ever seen so many jaws drop at the same time. "You're kidding!" Bones said.
"No, he is not kidding," Carol declared. "I heard it myself."
"Wouldn't that be mutiny or something?"
"I asked him that," Jim said. "He said that we can do this the same way I took over the ship before."
"That is not the same thing."
"Don't tell me things I already know. All I know is that Admiral Winston said we can't let someone else take over Starfleet because they are in cahoots with Daystrom."
"Perhaps Anakin and I can get into this place," Qui-Gon suggested. "They do not know us."
"That's true," Jim replied. "But if they suspected you, it wouldn't be good because they have no conscious. We have to create a plan not only to get you in there but to get you out."
"Admiral, I believe Anakin and Qui-Gon would be the best choice," Spock said. "They can manipulate others if they believe they are being found out."
"I realize that, but that only works on the weak minded…right?"
"True," Qui-Gon said. "However, we will be able to disguise ourselves. And Anakin is much closer to the Force than before. He also believes there is an intruder onboard."
"I know about this," Jim said. He looked at Spock. "Have you made a list of new people?"
"I have," Spock replied. "We will do background checks on them all and we will also interview each one."
"Get James West to snoop around too. He's pretty cunning and stealthy."
"I believe that is a good choice, Jim."
"What about us?" Solan asked.
"I want you to talk to everyone you can, friend or foe, and ask them if they have any information."
Solan nodded. "I'll try. Una knows a few people too. And we might get our Mac to do some looking if we can contact him…if you trust him."
"I think we can trust him. Just be careful what you talk about over the wire."
"I will."
"We also have two new enemies to deal with: Doctor Elena Petrova and General Raveshaw. Admiral Winston believes they were in cryotubes in a secret chamber in Egypt and that the Mac from the other universe found them, and they are teamed up with all this. Doctor Petrova is the one who was perfected with the tiberium to bring about the creation of Khan and his people."
"Is there no end to this?" Bones asked.
"I'm beginning to wonder. That general is cold-blooded and will do anything she tells him. That Mac is a source of tiberium for them even if they don't have any more from this attack. They intended to grow it here to create more weapons, and Kane lured the scrin here because they have the knowledge to perfect those weapons. We have to move quickly before this gets any worse. They also believe Kane is with them, as well as the overlord, and I already told you their plans."
"You think they have the other half of that Cabal?"
"I don't know, but if they do, he certainly has the knowledge they need. We have to get to work and find out where this Daystrom is."
"We will work quickly, Jim," Spock replied.
Everyone left the conference room, and Jim stayed there. He took the piece of paper from his pocket that Admiral Winston had given him. He wondered if he even wanted to see it, but he had to see it. He unfolded the paper, and just as he was about to look at it, someone came in the conference room. Jim almost dropped the paper. Why did he have to feel so nervous? Carol came over to him. "What are you doing?" she asked. "You haven't read that yet?"
"No," Jim said. "I was about to. Did you need something?"
"You aren't going to let me see it?"
"He said it was for my eyes only."
"Aren't my eyes an extension of yours?"
Jim just stared at her a moment and then they both smiled. "He'll never know," he said. He unfolded the paper…
Spock went to the science lab on the ship where Artemus Gordon was working. "We must hurry to make progress at finding Daystrom," Spock said.
"I am monitoring all channels and talking to friends," Artie replied. "We will find it, Captain."
"I appreciate your confidence. Let me know the moment you find anything."
"Yes, Sir."
Spock left the science lab and went to the medical bay where Bones was already. "Doctor, have you heard more from Pacifica?" Spock asked.
"Not today, but I'm sure we will hear something," Bones replied.
"I am not certain how we can find our intruder."
"I'm not either. Apparently, they can fool our computer systems and scanners."
"As I have seen. Do you believe Jim has kept something from us?"
"Of course. He always keeps something to himself."
"I believe he has learned something from Admiral Winston that we do not know. And what did you think of what Admiral Winston told him to do?"
Bones frowned. "There is no way," he said. "The whole of Starfleet is not a ship."
"I agree. Why would he think Jim could do this?"
"I don't know. I don't even really know the process of changing leaders."
"I have not seen it either. We were on our deep space mission during that time."
"Yeah. Maybe we nominate people or something."
"I do not believe Jim has much confidence in that order from Admiral Winston."
"I'm sure he doesn't. What are we going to do? Are we going to back him up if he does that?"
"I do not know, but Admiral Winston would not tell him this if he did not think it necessary."
"That has to be mutiny or something. We'll end up in front of a firing squad or worse."
"If it comes to this, we will discuss it further."
"What do you think everyone else thinks of this?" Bones asked.
"We will have to find out, but first we must get more information."
Spock left the medical bay and stood in the corridor for a moment. He wondered if they should be at the space dock while in this situation. He went to a computer terminal. "Computer, where is Admiral Kirk?" he asked.
"Admiral Kirk is on the Bridge."
Spock went to the Bridge and found Jim standing and looking at the viewscreen in front of the helm. "Admiral," he said as he approached.
"Yes, Mister Spock," Jim replied.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes, but you know most of it."
"Do you believe we should move the Enterprise to another location?"
Jim scowled slightly. "Why?"
"Perhaps we should be in a more secret location."
"You expecting something to happen?"
"Are you?"
Jim knew Spock was curious about information he did not know, but he would not admit it. "I don't think we're in any danger here," Jim said. "And we're not under any other Admiral but Admiral Winston, so no one can tell us where to go, but this is your ship, Spock, so if you want to move it, go ahead."
"Thank you, Admiral."
They were silent a moment. "Was there something else?" Jim asked.
"Was there anymore information that would benefit us?" Spock asked.
Jim almost smiled. "Not right now."
"Yes, Sir."
Jim looked at the Earth through the viewscreen. He thought they did not know what was really going on down there. He had always followed Admiral Winston's orders, but this time, he was not certain that he could…if something happened, which he hoped it did not. They would just have to take things as they came.
