I asked Dall-E 2 and Nightcafe to show me a promotional poster for Peter Falk as Columbo on the USS Enterprise.
Neither of them seemed to quite know who Peter Falk is, but were kind of consistent about him being some form of James Garner?
So, I had this idea of a different climax, but I couldn’t get over the fact that in the canon, Enterprise needs to Warp Speed it out of there to avoid the genesis wave, and I felt like that precluded an alternate version where Reliant is destroyed over an inhabited planet. Oh well. Still got a few twists ahead before the disproportionately long epilogue.
Previously on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…
“Engineering, report!” Pike shouted.
“Admiral,” came a panting reply, “I’ve got to take the mains off-line. The radiation…”
Kirk and McCoy exchanged a look as the voice trailed off. Kirk looked to Pike for confirmation. The admiral gave a quick nod. “Go,” Kirk said. McCoy grabbed his medical bag and headed for the lift.
“Where the hell are they?” Pike asked. “Xon?”
“Sporadic energy readings portside, aft,” Xon said. “Could be an impulse turn?”
“What do you think, Jim?” Pike said. “He’ll be back, but from where?”
Jim studied the static on the screen. “Without sensors, he’ll be relying on his tactical expertise. From what I’ve heard, he’s an absolutely brilliant tactician, so what’s the smartest thing for him to do?”
La’an turned her seat to face them. “Expertise,” she said, realizing something. “But not experience. He’s studied the theory, but he’s still working from a twentieth-century mindset.” She turned back to her console and replaced the static-filled view of the nebula on the main viewscreen with a map, centered on the Enterprise. A blue line traced its path, while a red one connected the places where they’d seen Reliant. Touching a few more buttons, La’an had the computer guess more points along the path.
“A fractal search pattern based on multimodal reflection sorting,” Xon observed. He raised an eyebrow. “The ideal approach to maximize the probability of finding us before we find him. Calculating the optimal search pattern without sensor assistance would be impossible for a normal human.”
“But there’s a flaw in his logic,” La’an said. “He’s brilliant, but not experienced.” She touched her control panel and the image rotated, showing that Reliant’s path formed a flat disc.
“Two-dimensional thinking,” Kirk realized.
Pike nodded. “My flight school instructor always used to say you can only look in one direction at a time, but the rest of them are still there. He meant that you needed to rely on your instruments, but here… Sulu, full stop. Z-minus ten thousand meters. La’an, stand by photon torpedoes.”
The Enterprise dropped down into the clouds. “Xon, can you predict his search path?”
Xon raised an eyebrow. “Admiral,” he said, tentatively, “I regret to report that an accurate calculation based on the available data is beyond my capability.”
“Best guess. Switch main viewscreen to dorsail camera. Look sharp.”
On Reliant, Khan silently studied the viewscreen. There were plenty of places for Enterprise to hide, but as he ordered the ship to yaw to starboard, he imagined his field of vision on the viewscreen as a searchlight, sweeping out an arc on his mental map of the nebula. They would complete this pass, turn, and pass again, fencing Pike in. “So much nearer the danger; go and speed,” he reflected. “Havoc and spoil and ruin are my gain.”
It felt like an eternity before the underside of the Reliant flickered on the viewscreen. Pike gave a quick nod to Sulu. The Enterprise rose up through the nebula. The bridge fell into a tense silence as the Enterprise silently pulled up behind Reliant. “Fire,” Pike ordered.
A red ball issued from Enterprise’s remaining torpedo tube. Reliant wouldn’t have had time to react even if had seen Enterprise approach. The torpedo tore through Reliant’s own torpedo launcher, and the pylon supporting it away from the hull crumpled. Enterprise followed on with a burst of phaser-fire to the port nacelle, striking up internal explosions.
The bridge around Khan became an inferno. More supports collapsed, sparking wires dropped in piles as consoles burned. He pushed a body out of the helmsman’s seat and tried to fire phasers. Reliant was dying, but surely he could take Pike to Hell with him. Nothing happened. “Weapons!” he demanded, but as his gaze swept across the bridge, it became clear he was the only one left standing. “Una!” he barked into his communicator, “Weapons!”
“I’ve diverted all weapons power to life support,” crackled the response. “The game’s over, Khan; you’ve still got a handful of people here you can save.”
“No!” Khan shouted. “Rather than be less, I care not to be at- he was cut off when one final torpedo took the port nacelle clean off. The ship listed hard and Khan fell into the fire of an exploding panel.
“One more shot will finish them,” Kirk said.
“We still have our orders,” Pike said. He locked eyes with La’an, looking for… Permission?
“And Una, sir?” she asked.
Instead of answering directly, he turned. “Nyota, send to commander, Reliant. Prepare to be boarded.”
“I’ll go,” Kirk said. “I lost Genesis, I’ll get it back. For Sam.”
Pike stood, just a bit shaky. “No, Jim. This is my mess. I should have stopped Khan twenty years ago. If things go south, get my ship out of here.”
La’an stood. “I’m going with you, Admiral. Frankly, you’re no match for Khan on your own.”
Pike considered it for a second. “No heroics. We’re there to recover Genesis and any survivors willing to be taken into custody. He stepped aside, looked to Kirk and indicated the Captain’s seat. “You have the conn.”
Previously, on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…
Kirk indicated the maelstrom on the screen as he and Pike stepped from the turbolift. “Mutara nebula,” he explained. “Gave us a rough ride on the way here.”
“High energy static discharge,” Saavik explained. “Sensors won’t work, shields will be useless.”
“A fair fight,” Pike said.
“A fair fight with Khan,” La’an said. “Still long odds.”
“Mister Xon, Any sign of Reliant?” Pike asked.
“Sensor range remains limited,” Xon said. “I can not fix their location, but the lack of a warp signature suggests they have not yet restored engines.”
“Mister Sulu, set course into the nebula. Nyota, give me an open channel.”
“Aye sir. You’re on.”
Pike stepped to the center of the bridge, but didn’t take his seat. “Khan, this is Pike. I’m still willing to negotiate. I have warp, you don’t. If you try to run, Starfleet will hunt you to the end of the galaxy. I tried to give you a chance, twenty years ago. I’m willing to do it again. This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed. Hand over Genesis, and I’ll report that Reliant was destroyed. No one will come looking for you. You have my word.” Pike signaled for Uhura to close the channel.
Kirk gave Pike a concerned look. “If he agrees, do you really plan to let him go?”
Pike gestured Kirk closer so they could speak privately. “We have priority orders from Starfleet to recover Genesis,” he said. Slowly, pointedly, he said, “Regardless of Khan’s response, the ship’s log will reflect that we made every reasonable attempt to carry out those orders.”
They both looked to Saavik. “By the book,” Kirk said, wryly.
Una measured every syllable of Pike’s message. What game was he playing?
“Triangulate that signal,” Khan demanded. “Find them.”
“My lord,” Joachim protested. “We will have warp in an hour. We could be at Earth in two.”
Khan scoffed. “Princes, potentates, warriors, the flower of heaven once yours, now lost… Have you chosen this place after the toil of battle to repose, to slumber here as in the vales of heaven? I want him found.” He looked to Una. “A ruse, of course,” he said. “But what kind?”
“Pike will abide by his word,” Una said, cautiously. “But, of course, he knows you can’t accept his terms. He wants you to think help is on the way. He’s hoping you’ll run, give him time to escape.”
“We have him, lord,” Joachim said. The screen showed the Enterprise limping toward the nebula. “Their warp signature is intermittent.”
“There he is,” Khan sighed with satisfaction. “More wounded than we were led to believe. Accursed, and in a cursed hour he hies.”
“If he puts the nebula between us and them, we will not be able to jam their subspace transmissions,” Joachim explained.
“Close to firing range and explain our displeasure,” Khan ordered.
Moments later, a pair of bright phaser bursts narrowly missed the Enterprise’s port nacelle pylon. The larger ship continued unimpeded.
“Why are we slowing?” Khan demanded.
“We can’t follow them into the nebula, my lord. Shields will be useless there.”
Pike’s voice crackled on the open channel. “This is Admiral Pike. What’s the matter, Khan? We’ve come this far. Khan… I’m laughing at the superior intellect.”
“Full impulse power!” Khan demanded.
“No, sir,” Joachim said, desperately, “You have Genesis. You can have anything you-”
He stopped short as Khan grabbed and shook the younger man. “Full power! Damn you!” he shoved him aside and touched the engine controls himself.
“I’ll say this for him, he’s consistent,” Kirk observed as the Reilant surged forward. “Now entering the Mutara nebula.” A tremor struck the Enterprise bridge and the lights went out.
“Emergency lights,” Pike ordered. Red light bathed the bridge. “La’an, best guess; fire when ready.”
“Tactical?” Khan asked.
“Inoperative,” Joachim answered.
“Raise shields.”
“As I feared, sir, non-functional. I’m reducing speed.”
Khan started to say something, but held back. He turned to Una. “How long until we have warp power?”
“Still a while,” she said. “You just don’t have enough people for all the work.”
A pair of phaser bolts appeared through the flickering static on Reliant’s viewscreen. They has missed the ship from behind, but the ionization of nebular matter nearby still sent a tremble through the ship.
“Aft torpedoes, fire!” Khan shouted. The torpedo disappeared into the clouds.
Reliant again vanished into cloud and static. “Hold course,” Pike ordered. “He’s close.” The bridge fell into an uneasy silence as they squinted at the screen. Kirk moved to Xon’s side, studying the mostly-indecipherable noise on the sensor display. La’an checked the phaser banks. “Sir!” Sulu exclaimed, indicating the screen. Reliant appeared through a break in the static, heading straight toward them.
“Evasive to starboard!” Pike ordered. “Fire!” The Enterprise rolled counterclockwise fast enough that the bridge crew swayed from centripetal motion. A salvo of phaser-fire tore through the side of the port torpedo launcher. Enterprise fired back, a series of red bolts from the underside of the saucer. Two caught the starboard edge of Reliant’s bridge dome.
An explosion blew out the turbolift doors. Even Khan was knocked from his feet. His navigator was thrown over the console and Joachim tumbled over the railing toward the captain’s chair. Khan saw the structural support break free, but he was too far away. It hit the deck, then toppled to the side, on top of Joachim. Khan lifted the heavy metal fragment and tossed it aside. “Joachim?” he asked. The younger man’s shirt was quickly soaking through where the sharp edge had pierced him.
“Yours…” Joachim managed, “Is superior.” His eyes went wide.
Khan shook him gently, then cradled him in his arms. “I shall avenge you,” he promised, then rose to his feet. He pointed an angry finger at Una, who had just managed to get back to her fee. “You! To engineering. I want main power, now!”
Her voice remained calm. “As you wish, my lord.” She headed for the emergency hatch, calculating how many things Khan was likely to keep track of at once under the circumstances. On her way by, she pulled the first aid kit off the wall. He didn’t notice.
Happy Veteran’s Day. Thank you for your service.
Program Note: Next week’s low-effort post will be on Friday because it is funnier that way.
A second special holiday posting because I hear people are not happy about Halloween Ends. You know why? Because evil never ends…
Since it’s Halloween soon, I’ll do a thematic one.
As you all know by now, the latest incarnation of Scooby-Doo is outing Velma. This has made exactly who you’d expect to be angry very angry. Apparently this is the first time in fifty years that the show about a group of itinerant hippies, one of whom is perpetually stoned, who travel the country in a psychedelic van with their dog, proving that the only true monsters in the world are old white men who are willing to screw over the little people in the pursuit of money has aligned itself with the cultural left.
Whatever. When they tried to make a female-led Ghostbusters, there was rioting in the streets and it had to be immediately “corrected” with a direct sequel to the original films that was kind of mediocre and cruised without putting in much effort on a diet of pure memberberries.
So I got a little help from Nightcafe and came up with this:
(Part 12 will be delayed a week to make room for something seasonal. Also, I have one more plot point I want to introduce and I’m hoping a delay will give me time to figure out how to do it.)
Previously on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…
M’Benga entered the observation deck and dropped into a chair, exhausted. “Commander Ortegas is stable,” he said, directing a pointed look at Kirk and McCoy. “We weren’t fully stocked when we set out and a lot of our equipment was damaged in the battle. Fortunately, Christine happens to be an expert in archaeological medicine. She was able to evacuate the subdural hematoma.”
“Like something out of the dark ages,” McCoy said, wryly, “But it worked.” He shook his head guiltily. “There might be some permanent impairment. We won’t know until we get her back to Starfleet Medical for a full exam.”
Jim Kirk’s attention shifted to the frantic repairs to the warp core below. “It’s bad, Captain,” La’an explained. “Shield control is completely destroyed. One torpedo tube, but the loading mechanism is inoperable. We have partial main power, but damage to the plasma cooling systems means we can only maintain warp for a few seconds at a time.”
“The mind is its own place, and in it self can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven,” Pike said, grimly. “Reliant is still jamming subspace communications. Without it, we have no way to warn Starfleet. With Reliant’s access codes and Una’s expertise, they could make it all the way to Earth. And with Genesis…”
“I should have seen it,” Kirk said, angrily. “I got caught with my britches down. I must be getting senile.”
“Jim, you couldn’t have guessed-” McCoy tried to comfort him.
Kirk pushed him away. “I was brash. I was impulsive. If I’d left Genesis back on Regula…”
“He would’ve found another way,” Pike said. “This isn’t your fault. La’an, you’re the closest thing we have to an expert on Khan.” With a deep sigh, he added, “And on Una. There has to be some way to stop them. We have a little time while they fix their engines, but not much.”
La’an considered this. “Admiral… I’m finding it hard to believe Una would side with Khan. Even after…”
“It would be illogical for Lieutenant Commander Chin-Riley to resist,” Xon said. “Khan would simply dispose of her. She is already a convicted criminal under Federation law; her most rational course of action would be to ally with Khan, at least until an opportunity to escape to neutral space presents itself.”
“I agree with La’an,” Pike said. “Una wouldn’t betray us.”
“She may not have had a choice,” Jim said. “Those parasites Khan used on Terrell and Ortegas.”
“If that’s true, her Ilyrian physiology might give her some limited resistance,” M’Benga said.
Kirk nodded. “Khan might not have known about Reliant’s prefix code, but Commander Chin-Riley would have. She didn’t warn him.”
“So we can’t trust Una, but neither can Khan,” Pike concluded.
“He’s used to inspiring absolute, unwavering loyalty,” La’an said. “Now that she’s proven herself, it won’t occur to him to question her.”
“Which means that if we give her an opening, she might be able to take him by surprise,” Kirk said.
“Khan is brilliant,” La’an said. “But he’s also obsessive. Single-minded. On Earth, he was brought down by a sort of Trojan Horse. There was one particular geneticist, Khan believed he needed him to create new augments. The international coalition used him as bait to draw Khan out.”
“Bait,” Pike said. “Me. He wants me.”
Kirk nodded. “He was close to finding Genesis on Regula, but he dropped it to set a trap for you.”
“So what do we do, stand on a corner and shout ‘Yoo hoo!’?” McCoy asked.
“That’s exactly what we do,” Pike said. “Right now, he doesn’t know where we are. Whatever move he’s planning, he’s hoping to draw us out. Bring us to him. Bring me to him.”
“So we flip the script,” Kirk said. “Bring him to us.”
“We’re sending out invitations to our own funeral, now?” McCoy said with growing incredulity.
“Doctor McCoy is right,” La’an said. “In our present state, we’re no match for Reliant.”
“Maybe there’s a way to even the odds,” Kirk said.
As the others started to file out, Saavik paused. “Captain Kirk,” she said, “May I ask you a question?”
“What’s on your mind, Lieutenant?”
“Sir…” she was reluctant. “Your brother mentioned the Kobayashi Maru.”
Pike also stopped. “Are you asking if we’re playing out that scenario now?”
“Do you mind telling me what you did, sir? I’d like to know.”
La’an and McCoy exchanged a look. She rolled her eyes. It was McCoy who spoke. “Lieutenant, you are looking at the only Starfleet cadet who ever beat the no-win scenario.”
Saavik was confused. “But how?”
Kirk smiled, painfully. It was Pike who spoke. “He cheated.”
“I reprogrammed the parameters of the scenario. Made it possible to rescue the ship,” Kirk admitted.
“The academic tribunal was divided on whether to expel you or give you a commendation for original thinking,” Pike said.
“Six to three,” Kirk said. “It wasn’t that close.”
“Then you never faced that situation, faced death?” Saavik asked.
He looked out the observation window, wryly. He seemed about to say something, but Pike cut him off. “Captain Kirk doesn’t accept the premise of the no-win scenario. Battle stations, Mister Saavik. Jim, walk with me?”
He let the younger captain around the longer route to the secondary companionway. “Sam was a friend,” Pike said. “I won’t pretend it’s the same for me as it was for you.”
“Saavik was right,” Kirk said. “I’ve never faced death. Not like this. I’ve cheated death, talked my way out of it, but I’ve never looked it in the face.”
“This isn’t your fault, Jim,” Pike said. “It’s mine. I hesitated.”
“You didn’t want to assume an attack posture against a Starfleet ship,” Kirk said. “I might have done the same thing myself.”
“Not just now,” Pike said. “I hesitated now, and I hesitated twenty years ago. I knew what my duty was with Khan, but after what happened with Una, I wanted to believe there was a better way. That’s what I do, Jim. I… obsess, over the possibilities. I’m not like you. You don’t hesitate.”
“I did once,” Kirk said. “My first tour, back on Farragut. I… I won’t go into it. But I froze. Just for a second. And people died. Ever since then, I’ve been determined to only regret the things I’ve done, not the things I haven’t.”
“You and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but I admire your… clarity,” Pike said. “We’re about to go into battle with half a ship against one of the greatest tactical minds of human history. I need a Number One who can back me up, someone I can trust to act in the moment, without hesitation. I need a Number One who doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario.”
Jim stiffened. “Aye aye, Admiral.”
Previously on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…
It had, in fact, been years since Jim Kirk had taken hands-on approach to computer hacking. He struggled to lock out command protocols, but he couldn’t do it indefinitely. To his left, Ortegas swayed as she tried to line Galileo up with Enterprise’s hangar bay doors. They parted with painful slowness. “They’re kicking me out,” Kirk said. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep their phasers down.”
“Just a second,” Ortegas said. There was no procedure for what they were trying, and she’d had to disable all the computer-assisted navigation, which would only force them out of such a suicidal maneuver. She could only see out of one eye, her heart felt like it was going to tear itself out of her chest, and the pain in her head made her hands shake. She visualized the shape of the shuttlecraft, imagining it between the hangar bay doors, saw the path from their current position to the Enterprise. Too soon, and the shuttle would tear itself in half on the doors. One more second. “Now.” She tapped the thruster controls. Galileo jumped forward.
She was just a fraction too low. The shuttle’s nacelles sheared off against the leading edge of the runway, but the body of the shuttle skidded narrowly between the doors. The bay’s automatic landing controls tried and failed to control what had become an unguided missile that tore up the deck plates. The tractor beam failed, then the safety force field. Explosive bolts deployed a dense nanofiber webbing across the middle of the bay, the last defense before the heavy tritanium bulkhead that would smash a crashing shuttle to pieces to protect the Enterprise’s interior. The webbing pulled taught, stretched to its limit, but held. The remains of the shuttle listed to one side as it slid to a halt just feet shy of the bulkhead.
“Galileo is aboard,” Sulu reported.
“Finally,” Pike sighed.
“Reliant locking phasers,” La’an shouted.
“Engineering, main power now!” Pike demanded. “Sulu, hit it!”
A phaser beam lashed out from Reliant, but met only empty space as the Enterprise jumped to warp.
The battered ship dropped out of warp only a few seconds later, but it was long enough to take them out of Reliant’s compromised sensor range. Pike left La’an in command and jogged to the hangar bay.
By the time he got there, it had repressurized. McCoy and M’Benga were carrying Ortegas from the crashed shuttle. “Erica?” Pike asked, surprised.
One eye flicked open, briefly. “Give the word, Admiral,” she rasped.
He put his hand on her shoulder. “The word is given. Warp speed.”
She blacked out. M’Benga gave Pike a hopeless look. Pike turned to Kirk, still getting his footing against the shuttle. “Erica was on Reliant,” Pike said. “Khan?”
Kirk nodded. “He attacked Regula I. Killed almost everyone. Chris… he got Genesis. It’s all my fault.”
Pike waved off the apology. “What about David?” he asked.
“He’s here,” Kirk said. “We had to leave Carol and the others behind.”
“And the rest of Reliant’s crew?”
“Captain Terrell is dead,” Kirk said. “Khan used some kind of parasite on them. We got the one in Commander Ortegas, but I’m not sure how bad the damage is. The rest of the crew was marooned on Ceti Alpha V. It doesn’t sound like they’ll last long, the planet is uninhabitable.”
“I don’t understand. Ceti Alpha V was class M.”
“Not anymore,” Kirk said. “Khan thinks you set him up.”
Pike looked away. “I should have gone back. Should have checked on him.”
“Don’t think that would’ve helped,” McCoy interjected. “From the sound of it I don’t think this Khan fellow was, uh,” he tapped his temple, “Firing on all thrusters.”
The intercom beeped. “Admiral Pike, this is sickbay,” came Doctor Chapel’s voice. “You need to get down here. It’s the captain. If Jim Kirk is with you, he should come too. Admiral, you’d better hurry.”
“Sam?” Kirk asked. Pike’s expression was all the answer he needed.
“There’s just too much organ damage,” Chapel said. “I don’t have a working medical stasis chamber, and even if I did… I think the best we can do is delay the inevitable. I’m sorry.”
“It should’ve been me,” Pike said, wryly. “He pushed me out of harm’s way. He never even wanted his own command.”
Jim knelt down beside the biobed. “Sam,” he said. He squeezed his brother’s hand.
Sam coughed. “Jim?” His eyes flickered. “Did you…. David?”
“Yes,” Jim said. “He’s safe.”
Sam managed a nod. “That’s good. Worth it then. Hold on to him.” He coughed again. The biobed indicators fell. “Jim… You know, they don’t give us the Kobyashi Maru test in the science track. I never took it until now. Maybe not as extravagant as your solution, but what do you think?”
“Sam…”
“Grieve later,” Sam rasped. “You’ve got a ship to save.” His focus drifted past Jim, settling into the distance. A sharp intake of breath, and he said simply, “Oh my.” The biobed droned its alarm as his life signs faded.
A sudden surge of violent anger overtook Jim as he closed his eyes, trembling. The unfairness of it. It burst out of him in a sudden, violent, primal scream, “Khan!”
Previously, on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…
“Prefix code?” Saavik asked. “I don’t understand.”
Jim continued to try to shake Ortegas back to consciousness. “You have to learn how things work on a starship,” he said.
M’Benga nodded. “Of course.” He looked to Saavik. “He’s betting that Khan thinks of computer security in terms of physical access. That it wouldn’t occur to him to change the cipher key that identifies the command console to the main computer.”
“First rule of space piracy,” Jim said. “Steal a ship, change the wifi password.”
The communication console trilled. “Galileo, this is Enterprise.” Jim recognized his brother’s voice. “Jim, we’re moving into position. We don’t have a lot of time. We’re going to attempt emergency landing plan… B.”
“B?” Saavik said, questioningly.
“As in barricade,” Jim realized. “Damn. Bones, can you get her on her feet?” he indicated Ortegas. “I don’t think I can pull this off without her.”
“Have to try cordrazine,” McCoy said.
“Dammit, man,” M’Benga protested. “You have no idea what kind of cerebral trauma she’s suffered. You could trigger a massive hemorrhage.”
“Doctors,” Jim said, urgently, “We’re about to hit by a photon torpedo.”
M’Benga surrendered and allowed McCoy to inject Ortegas. She sat up instantly, panting.
“Commander,” Jim said, helping her into the pilot’s seat, “Can you fly? There’s not much time.”
She seemed confused but she nodded. Jim continued. “Do you know if Khan reset Reliant’s prefix code? If we can take down their weapons for a few seconds, we might have a chance.”
“Incoming,” Saavik dispassionately reported. A red glow emanated from one of Reliant’s torpedo launchers. A bright ball of energy flew toward them.
Suddenly, there was Enterprise, filling the space between Reliant and the shuttle.
Ortegas stirred, muttered, “One six three zero nine.”
Enterprise reeled as it took the torpedo head-on. The bridge exploded.
Xon was thrown from his console as the panel beside him exploded. Uhura’s chair broke, dropping her face-first into the communications station, but she managed to right herself despite the pain and keep desperately working to coordinate repair efforts across the ship. Sulu felt something pop out of place in his shoulder as his death-grip on the helm just barely kept him in his seat.
Sam Kirk landed on his back when he hit the deck. That was why he saw it first. That last hit had damaged one of the structural columns supporting the dome of the bridge. The heavy post pulled away from the ceiling and started to tumble, pulling with it some of the high-energy conduit that fed the bridge’s defenses. “Chris!” Sam shouted. Pike fell backward toward his seat. Sam sprang to his feet with a speed that belied his years and threw himself shoulder-first into the Admiral. Pike didn’t have time to respond before he was thrown away from the Captain’s chair and to the deck. The metal beam caught Sam across the back, driving him back down to the deck. There was a shower of sparks as the still-energized cabling grounded through him, burning his uniform.
On Reliant, Khan’s patience ran out. “Finish them,” he ordered. Joachim initiated the firing sequence.
Pike shouted for a medic, struggling to process what was happening, but a shout from La’an forced his attention back to the viewscreen. Reliant’s torpedo launcher lit up again… And went dark.
“Our shields are dropping!” Joachim shouted in alarm.
“Raise them!” Khan demanded.
Joachim slammed his fists on the console. “I can’t!”
Khan shot Una an accusatory work. She casually looked at a nearby display. “Who was in charge of securing the main computer?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Can you restore control?” Khan asked.
Una’s fingers flew over the controls. “It’ll take a second. You really should’ve changed the prefix code.”
“Reliant dropping shields,” Xon said as he returned to his station.
There was no time to question it. “La’an, Fire!” Pike shouted.
A bolt of red lashed out from Enterprise. It traced its way across the rear of Reliant’s saucer, cutting a dark burn toward the dome at the top of the smaller ship’s engine column. The second bolt hit the dome squarely. The illumination in Reliant’s nacelles flickered with the power interruption.
On Reliant’s bridge, a mass of cabling dropped from the ceiling. Khan took it on the shoulder, straining to remain on his feet. A normal human would have been pinned by the weight. Behind him, someone grabbed a fire extinguisher to use on a sparking console. Khan grabbed Joachim and demanded he return fire.
“We can’t fire, sir!” he shouted.
“Why? Why can’t you?”
“They’ve damaged photon control and warp drive.”
“We should withdraw,” Una said. “Enterprise isn’t going anywhere.”
“No!” Khan insisted. “Phasers?”
“Almost there,” Una said. “Whoever he is, he knows his way around command protocols.”
Previously on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…
“We’re too late,” M’Benga said.
“Saavik, how bad is it?” Jim Kirk asked.
“Impossible to say at this distance,” she answered. “I am detecting neither a warp core signature nor impulse emissions, suggesting that main and auxiliary power are both down.”
“Does Enterprise have weapons?” Kirk asked.
“Minimal power readings from forward phaser banks. No weapons lock. At best, they have minimal phaser capability.”
“There’s got to be something we can do,” David said.
“Should I try to raise Enterprise?” Terrell asked, rubbing the side of his head.
“Any sign Reliant has seen us yet?” Kirk asked Saavik.
“We wouldn’t be here if they did,” McCoy said, wryly.
“Stand by, Captain,” Kirk said. He thought for a moment and gestured Saavik, McCoy and M’Benga aside.
“Doctor,” he said, “You said Khan is from the twentieth century, right? How is he flying a starship?”
“He’s extremely intelligent. Photographic memory, absolutely brilliant strategist.” M’Benga glanced away for a moment, remembering. “Twenty years ago, before we realized who he was, he had access to the ship’s computer. Within a few hours he had picked up enough to take control of key systems. I’m sure he’s spent decades going over what he learned in that time.”
“How?” Kirk asked.
“He was able to identify a key system interconnect and physically destroyed it. Just smashed it to pieces with his bare hands. It isolated primary control systems so that he could bypass security lockouts on life support.”
“Physically…” Kirk thought. “So his knowledge of our systems is twenty years out of date, and he’s got a twentieth-century mindset. So it’s possible… Saavik, punch up the data charts for Reliant’s command console.”
“Reliant’s command?” she asked.
“Hurry.” Kirk stepped back. “Captain Terrell, get ready to contact Enterprise. They’re only going to get one shot at this, the timing is going to be hard.”
“Harder than you think, I’m afraid,” Terrell said. Kirk turned to see the phaser. Then motion to his other side as Ortegas stood, her own phaser drawn, covering all six of the others. Past her, on the viewscreen, Reliant had turned to face them.
“Erica?” M’Benga asked.
“Sorry Joseph,” she said.
Terrell reached back with his free hand and activated the communications system. “Do you have the coordinates, your excellency?” he asked.
“I have indeed, Captain. You have done well.”
Kirk’s eyes flicked to the side at the whine of a transporter. The genesis device dissolved in a blue glow.
“You can’t! You son of a bitch!” David shouted. He leapt toward Terrell. The captain’s phaser fired. Kirk instinctively moved to put himself between them.
Jeddah did as well. He was faster. Only the first hint of his scream was audible as his body burned out of existence. David crumpled with a whimper.
“Please, don’t move,” Terrell said. He rubbed the side of his head again. His phaser remained raised, but his hand trembled. “We await your commands, excellency.”
“Kill the others,” said Khan. “All of them.”
Terrell hesitated. “Sir… it is difficult.”
“Kill them, Terrell. Now.”
The tremble had become a full shake. “I try to obey, but…”
Terrell thrust his phaser toward Kirk, a look of wild desperation on his face. He strained, as though the weapon was fighting him. He mouthed a silent, “I’m sorry,” and before anyone could stop him, he put the phaser to his own head and pulled the trigger.
Kirk reacted on instinct, swinging to his side in the hope of catching Ortegas off-guard. The blow didn’t connect, but it didn’t need to. She dropped her own phaser and was clutching the sides of her head. She fell to the deck, screaming. Kirk took her fallen phaser while M’Benga crouched beside her scanning with his tricorder. “I don’t understand this, I’m not reading anything, but…”
A rivulet of blood ran down from her ear. A moment later, two long structures emerged, something between mandibles and antennae. The rest of the creature wriggled free, something alien and threatening, almost like an armored slug. “The hell?” M’Benga asked.
Reflexively sickened, Kirk vaporized it. Saavik moved to the flight control panel Ortegas has abandoned. “Captain, Reliant is locking weapons.”
There was no time for restraint or even sympathy. Kirk shook Ortegas violently. “Commander! Erica!”
She stirred, glazed. “Prefix code!” Kirk demanded. “Reliant’s prefix code. Now, or we’re all dead.”
“Reliant is closing on the shuttle,” La’an said.
“Dammit, Jim,” Sam said. “Always with the heroics.”
“Xon, where’s those phasers?” Pike demanded. “Sulu, get us between them.”
“Nearly there, sir,” Xon said.
“Trouble maneuvering, sir,” Sulu said. “I still don’t have auxiliary power.”
Sam tapped a control. “Engineering, we’re out of time.”
“We’re still overheating,” answered the voice on the intercom. “Energizer’s bypassed like a Christmas tree. If I bring the mains back on-line, I can get you a few seconds of power, but it won’t hold.”
“Standby,” Pike ordered. “Uhura, get me Reliant.”
“Channel open, Admiral.”
“Khan!” Pike shouted. “This is between you and me. They don’t have anything to do with it.”
There was no response. “Reliant is powering weapons.”
“Xon?” Pike asked.
“Phasers ready,” Xon warned, “But we cannot penetrate their shields.”
“Lock on their main reactor. Maybe we can distract them.”
Sam asked, “Can we beam them aboard?”
Xon shook his head. “Plasma leaks on deck seven are interfering with transporter operations.”
“Sulu,” Sam said, “Can you line us up to give them a straight shot to the shuttle bay without exposing them to Reliant?”
“I’ll try, sir,” Sulu answered. He looked to Pike. “That will put key areas in the line of fire, including the bridge.”
“Do it,” Pike said. “And stand by warp. Get in. Get them. Get out.”