'Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven' - Chapter 11
“No,” Marla cried as three more of the Enterprise crew were pulled up onto their feet and dragged away from the group.
Mr. Scott had protested loudly when the first group had been selected and removed. It had caused Khan to backhand him solidly. Mr. Scott was now bleeding from a head wound where his head had glanced off one of the sharp edges of the wall.
When she saw Khan walking in her direction, she pushed herself back and closer to Mr. Scott. She was pressed up against him when Khan knelt down next to her.
“Why do you concern yourself with these lesser beings?” Khan asked her. “They are not worthy. Have we not proved that we are superior in all respects?”
“Well, you don’t have a transporter for one,” Mr. Scott pointed out.
Khan glared in his direction.
“If we had of been allowed to progress instead of being dragged back to your level, we would have had one,” Khan said, ignoring the scoff from Mr. Scott at that statement.
Khan raised a hand to lift up her chin. “Join us, Marla. You could still be a queen.”
Marla tried to move her head away, but the wall behind her and Khan’s sure grip were keeping her head in one place. Her only way of defying Khan was to lower her eyes, but that made him squeeze her chin painfully, so she opened them up again and tried to put all her fear and defiance combined into it.
“You have plenty of others among your people to choose,” she said once he had relaxed his grip enough that she could speak. He was so strong that she had been afraid that he would break her jaw.
He leaned close to whisper in her ear and she braced herself for something. She didn’t know why but this man was so powerful and he scared her.
“I know that you will tell me the truth, that you do not hide from me. You try but you can’t. With these others I must always be on my guard, but you, Marla, are the Queen of my heart.”
With that, he let go of her, stood up, and walked away.
oOo
Jim gave the order and sat back to watch the viewscreen.
Uhura had provided a link from the cameras in the Transporter room so that they could see and hear immediately what was going on. Lt. Doohan had recovered enough that he felt up to operating the Transporter. The agreed upon exchange was that Doohan would beam two people back to each pad. This was an extremely risky maneuver, even over as short a distance they were considering. At least this allowed Jim to able to hear that Scotty was still alive. He had to provide information to Doohan in order for the man to know the correct settings. It would need two people to operate correctly, so Gaila was brought in off Gamma shift to provide the assistance.
Jim had to put his foot down in respect to Chekov, who wanted to help, but Jim needed him on the Bridge. They would have the Botany Bay under tractor beam and Sulu needed help in case anything went wrong in that direction. The Augments were an unknown--they might try and break the beam and use the Botany Bay to attack the Enterprise. With how close the two ships were, there was always that danger. All crew had gone to Red Alert and the other Bridge crew personnel shifts were available but Jim wanted those he knew had more experience.
He could also hear the collective holding of breaths as they watched the first spirals of light indicating a transport taking place. For once, the Bridge was a haven of silence, only the normal beeps of equipment breaking it.
As the bodies started to convalesce into solid forms, Spock stepped forward from the rest of the Security team. There were six members on the team. The decision he, Spock, and Burly, had come to was one member for each pad, so as not to appear too threatening but enough to cover the Augments.
Spock’s hand was down by his body, but Jim noted that the phaser was set on stun.
As the bodies materialized, Khan was at the front pad, McGivers held to him and a phaser pointed at her head.
“How the hell did he get one?” Jim asked.
Sulu and Chekov looked at each other before glancing in his direction. Uhura was listening intently to her comm unit and focusing on that. The other crew seemed to have no idea either. As Jim looked back, he recognized the other weapons; old school guns which had been out of use for nearly two centuries. Bullets, lead bullets, and if anyone was shot with them Jim was already imagining the bitching out he would receive from Bones.
Each of the Augments had an Enterprise crew member held to them and Scotty was not included.
“How nice, Spock, you brought a welcoming committee for us,” Khan said with smile as he stepped off the pad.
Jim looked carefully at McGivers. She looked petrified and there were marks on her neck and chin that were likely to turn into fully fledged bruises later on. She was also trying to restrict Khan’s steps. Almost fighting him every step of the way. Jim considered that Bones might have been right, that she was a victim to Khan’s manipulation.
“Lieutenant Commander Scott is not here,” Spock said.
As Khan moved, so had the other Augments and their hostages, two engineers and three medical staff by the color of their shirts. Jim’s stipulation to Khan had been that Scotty needed to be one of those brought over in the first transport. Khan had agreed but appeared to have ignored it.
There was something about the other hostages as opposed to the way that McGivers was being held, that had Jim looking back and forth. Khan had his hand over her mouth, stopping her from speaking. The others didn’t look as scared as her, but that could be explained away by them being experienced staff of the Enterprise. Then it hit Jim, he didn’t recognize any of them.
“Anyone know those crewmembers?” Jim asked, looking around his Bridge crew. Even Uhura and her communication team had glanced up and were looking at the viewscreen.
“No, sir,” he heard back from various crewmembers.
“You sure?” he asked again, wanting to be positive before he made an order.
The Augments were using the possible crew members as human shields well. A really good shot might be able to stun them, but there could be the risk of hitting the human shield. It wasn’t helped by them advancing toward the security team.
He was leaning forward in his chair, staring at the screen at Khan and Spock facing off against each other.
“Captain, I confirm that none of the human shields are Enterprise staff, except Lt. McGivers. Their biosignals are not recognized by the computer.”
Jim immediately hit the comm link to the Transporter room.
“Spock, they are all Augments,” Jim announced. “Fire at will.”
As soon as Jim started to speak, it was too late. One of the Augments had moved in the direction of the transporter console and was out of sight of the camera for the moment. Then cries sounded out. The security team started firing, with the Augments returning fire.
Khan had shoved McGivers in Spock’s direction and as Spock protected himself from the contact. McGivers tried to push herself away.
Jim was powerless as he watched her bump into the console and slide down the floor, probably unconscious.
The phasers weren’t working on the Augments. The stun setting was slowing them down a little, but they were regrouping and going after the security team.
Khan was battling with Spock and although Spock’s capabilities put him well above the average human, Khan was more than a match for him.
Jim winced as a bullet just missed Spock.
“Set to kill,” Jim ordered. “All decks, set phasers to kill. Five Augments are dressed in Starfleet uniforms.” Jim disconnected his ship wide announcement and looked quickly in Uhura’s direction before speaking to her. She was turned slightly so she could keep an eye on the viewscreen but was also able to still view her station. “Uhura, send visuals of the five Augments to all stations.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
As she spoke, Jim noticed the doors to the Transporter room opening. Burly and some of his other security team were now providing cover for the crew inside the room to retreat toward the doors. Jim noted that one of the security team was down and two of the Augments had sustained injuries as well. As he watched, Khan placed a solid kick to Spock’s leg that had him grunting and collapsing slightly. It was enough for Khan to push him backwards into the incoming security team. Khan picked up one of the discarded old style guns and was aiming it at Spock.
He watched in horror, leaning forward on his chair and wishing he was there so that he could get Spock out of the way of the bullet that was sure to head in his direction. He heard Uhura gasp behind him and then there was a security man down. Spock was being dragged back through the door and Jim could hear Burly yelling for his team to retreat. They were firing cover into the room again while the injured security man, whose name Jim was trying to remember, was being pulled through the door. He was crying out and Jim could see the trail of blood being left in a pale red streak across the white floor.
“Alert medical,” Jim yelled to the communication station, knowing that one of them would follow his order. His hands were gripping tight onto the arms of the chair. “Let them know it’s an old fashioned bullet wound.” He badly wanted to do something but needed to stay where he was, in his chair, in order to maintain control and get all the information they could.
“Seal off the Transporter room,” he ordered and could see Chekov’s fingers flying across his station in order to comply.
“Sealed, Captain,” Chekov replied, his face white with tension.
“Medical on its way,” Tezgarian told him.
“Spock? Burly?” Jim checked on his two front line leaders.
“Spock here, Captain. I have not sustained an injury. I concur with your order that kill is the only setting we can hope for with the Augments. It does not kill them immediately and requires repeated shots.”
Jim glanced back at the screen where one of the Augment men was writhing on the ground near the transporter pad, blood bubbling from his mouth.
“You definitely got one good,” Jim replied. “We will have a report to you on how many shots they sustained. Burly?”
“Here, sir,” Burly replied.
“Get the rest of your team in place. I want them kept in that room.”
“Aye, sir,” Burly said.
“Captain, the transporter officers are still in the room. If you raise the shields they are likely to kill them but it could ensure the safety of the remaining crew on the Botany Bay.”
“Two lives for twelve,” Jim said.
“Indeed.”
“Kirk out,” Jim said, needing to think quickly over what to do next.
“Captain, Transporter room for you,” Uhura said.
“Khan,” Jim said, holding tightly onto his temper. He would like nothing more than to be down there to tear the man limb from limb, but it would be nigh on impossible and he’d be likely to get himself killed.
He could see Khan on screen, staring at the camera directly while two of his people held guns to Doohan’s head. Gaila was slumped back against the console, either dead or knocked out.
“Do not raise your shields, Captain,” Khan said. “If my people do not beam back on board within the next five minutes, I left orders for your people to be killed. I did some reading while I stayed on this vessel of yours. Your library is very extensive and your security not very good. I know that you can not work the transporter while the shields are up.”
“Captain,” Sulu hissed at him and Jim looked over in his direction. Sulu was pointing at the screen and Jim could see a couple of the Augments standing just under the camera almost out of sight.
As they watched, two of them helped a third to stand on their shoulders and the vid connection with the transporter room was gone.
“Fuck,” Jim exclaimed as quietly as he could. He wanted to get up and pace. He wanted to be down there, but he needed to try and stay as calm as possible.
“Leave the shields down,” he ordered. “You have your wish,” he told Khan.
“Thank you, Captain. For that I shall not kill your crew,” Khan said. “Yet.”
Khan had disconnected the link and Jim thumped his fist on the chair in frustration.
“Monitor all transports and report them to me and Spock ASAP,” Jim ordered, glaring at the viewscreen that was now black.
He finally succumbed to temptation and got out of his chair. He walked back and forth in front of it, before an idea came to him. He tried not to run over to the control system console, instead walking as briskly as he could.
“Harris, I want the air-vents to the Transporter room isolated from the general system. I want to knock them out. You know the procedure, and increase the recommended dosage slightly. We already have two crew in there who have been knocked out and one still conscious. Keep that in mind,” Jim ordered.
“Aye, Captain,” Harris replied.
Jim turned back to survey his Bridge. Sulu and Chekov were trying to seem like they had been looking at the viewscreen before Jim turned around, but he knew better. Other crew members were also attempting to appear like they were not interested in what Jim was doing. The only ones that Jim believed who hadn’t been watching his every move were the Communications team and the Security officer. Jim walked over to the Communications section, wanting an update on their monitoring.
Uhura glanced up at Jim before concentrating back on her panel. Jim wasn’t bothered by what others might perceive as a slight from a subordinate. She was doing her job and at times like this she needed to concentrate as best as she could. That meant looking at her station while she monitored and received information from her team.
“Captain, Medical has reported that Ensign Papadopoulos is currently under going surgery. Three other security staff have received treatment in the corridor, but all have been cleared for duty,” Uhura said while Jim watched her flick between various communication channels. He couldn’t hear the switches happening but he knew a little about the board she was operating and was following the movement of her fingers as she connected and disconnected.
“Thank you, Lieutenant. Transporter news?” Jim asked.
Hannity spoke up in reply to Jim’s question. “Three transports already, Captain.”
“Three?” Jim asked, shocked at the number that had occurred within the short time span. He did a quick calculation in his head. “They will have to do at least ten. Relay time?”
“They are pushing it close to the line. Working hard on getting people over as soon as possible it seems,” Hannity replied.
“Keep an eye on it. If they do more than ten then it means they might be bringing over our crew as well. Keep Uhura up to date so she can relay the information to the Security team. Uhura,” Jim turned back in Uhura’s direction. “Let them know that there will likely be sixty Augments attempting to come out of the Transporter room. We will keep them informed if there is the possibility of them actually using Enterprise crew as shields.”
“Aye, sir,” Uhura replied.
Jim put a hand on her shoulder, offering some silent support at a time when he knew she was being pulled in a variety of directions. The hardest direction to ignore would be the silent worry about Spock. He gave a gentle pat and walked past her and headed over to the Science station next.
“Biosign signals from the transporter room?” Jim asked Zong, the Lieutenant standing at Spock’s station.
“Lieutenant’s McGivers and Oriana are both still unconscious, Doohan is awake but under stress. I have one signal that has ceased, presumably the Augment that sustained the four direct hits from phaser fire. There are twenty-three signals that are not recognized by the computer.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. Keep working with Uhura and Hannity on monitoring the signals.”
Jim had finished his round of checking with each main area. He headed back to his chair and sat down, trying to keep still. He wanted to fidget but caught himself each time there was the start of an involuntary move. He needed to try and stay calm for the sake of the rest of the crew, who would be looking to him for the best way to react. They had never dealt with a battle for their lives centered on the Enterprise itself.
Jim had been sitting in the chair for nearly two minutes when Harris spoke up.
“Captain, air adjustment has been made for the Transporter room on Deck Seven.”
“Zong?” Jim asked.
“As yet no change in the unknown biosignals, but Lt. Doohan is experiencing symptoms,” Zong reported.
“Damn,” Jim said quietly. “Let me know in a minute if there is any change.”
The wait was one Jim wished he didn’t have to sit through. More Augments were beamed over and the chance that Doohan could make a mistake which would result in Khan retaliating against him was becoming a distinct possibility.
“No worthwhile changes in the unknown biosignals, but distinct changes on Lt. Doohan,” Zong announced.
“Harris, cancel it, reverse the air immediately,” Jim ordered before thumping his fist against the arm of his chair. He wanted to hit something that could retaliate but the chair had to do for the moment.
“That makes ten transports, Captain,” Hannity said.
“Security in place?” Jim asked.
“Affirmative, Captain,” Fender said from her place at the Security station.
“Any new transports?” Jim turned the chair so that he could look at Hannity more easily.
Hannity was checking over her control systems panel and didn’t answer Jim immediately. He waited for her to get the information.
“No, sir,” Hannity said.
“Captain,” Zong yelled out, causing the whole Bridge to look in their direction. “Lt. Doohan has been rendered unconscious, sir.”
“Harris?” Jim growled in the direction of the environmental control systems officer on the Bridge.
“Air flow was reversed, Captain,” Harris said, looking nervously at his station.
“Wasn’t Harris, sir,” Zong interrupted. “It was immediate. I would gather that they have knocked him out.”
“Okay, Uhura, alert Security and Spock that all sixty Augments have been beamed over and are currently located in the Transporter room. If they can’t contain them in there, ensure that they are restricted to the areas that I discussed with them earlier.”
Jim sat back in his chair, turning it to face forward and wait for the viewscreen to come online with information and vision for the upcoming skirmish.
oOo
“Captain, Lieutenant Commander Spock reports that the access to the Transporter room is all clear,” Uhura stated.
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Jim said as he stood up from his chair and headed for the Turbolift. “Chekov, with me. Sulu you have the conn.”
The past few minutes had been nothing short of chaos. Khan’s people took every opportunity to ensure that any visual or audio sensors were knocked out, making Jim rely on the constant stream of updates from his Bridge crew. The Augments were too great a number for the small space of the corridor and Khan wasn’t worried about using his people as cannon fodder, it seemed. They had injured and killed a small number before those behind them broke through and had started grappling with the Security teams.
It now meant that a number of Augments had phasers in their possession. Spock and Burly were doing their best to herd the Augments away from vital system locations, which meant that Uhura was constantly updating the Enterprise crew to evacuate areas the Augments were heading toward. Not a person was left asleep on the Enterprise, all had been roused at the first call for a Red Alert.
Jim bounced up and down on his feet as he and Chekov waited for the lift. As soon as it opened, Jim literally ran in and ordered it down to Deck Seven. He noted that Chekov had a phaser in hand, he was changing his grip on it all the time, revealing his nervousness.
“Set on stun, Ensign,” Jim said.
“Stun, Captain?”
“Should only be our people around here.”
Chekov nodded his compliance and pressed the little button to set the phaser back into stun mode.
As the computer voice announced the arrival to Deck Seven, Jim adjusted the communicator on his hip and stepped forward, phaser raised in preparation as the door opened.
A quick look both ways showed him that the way was clear. With a nod to Chekov, Jim was running out the lift and on the way to the Transporter room. There were only two bends in the corridor that he had to be mindful of and he slowed slightly as he approached each of them, but they didn’t meet anyone else on the way.
The door opened to reveal the main Transporter room. McGivers was still slumped against the console and Chekov ran to her immediately. Jim saw Doohan and Gaila behind the console area so he ran over to check them. As it was suspected, they had been knocked out. Doohan already had a nasty egg size swelling that Jim could feel under his hair.
There was a hiss of electricity and Jim looked over at the sensor area that had been destroyed by the Augments. All that they had done was try and pull as many wires out as possible. One of them had to have some nasty burns on their hands from the way the wires were still sparking.
Jim stood up and pressed the comm link on the console.
“Bridge, this is the Captain, disconnect the audio-visual sensor power in the Transporter room, we have live wires exposed. Kirk, out.” He looked over at Chekov, who was looking down at his feet, where McGivers was lying. “Chekov, lets get our people back.”
Chekov nodded and moved to join Jim behind the console. He did a quick check over the panel and everything was to his satisfaction, so he started the beaming process.
“Energize,” Chekov said as he pulled down gently on the lever.
Jim had moved to stand in the middle of the room, wanting to be the first sight his people saw when they were brought back.
The figures started to materialize on the pads, in a seated position. As the light from the beam swirled around them, it became clear that they all had their arms behind their backs.
“Captain,” a few of them cried out as they looked around the room and spotted him. Mouths opened and shock was the main expression in all their eyes that Jim could see, especially when they glanced around and saw McGivers lying on the ground.
“Quick, up and off the pad, we want to get the rest of you back,” Jim said as he approached the pad, helping each of them stand up and step off of it.
While Chekov prepared for the next beaming, Jim checked over his people. The ties were very secure and nothing short of a laser scalpel was likely to break the bonds. He told them this and let them know that as soon as they were all over, he would take them to Sickbay to get sorted. He touched each of them, grounding them physically that they were here, back on the Enterprise and safe.
One of them looked down at McGivers and voiced what was likely going through all their minds, “Is she--?” they asked.
“No, just unconscious,” Jim said as he looked back in the direction of the pad where the next group were materializing again.
Jim smiled when he recognized one of the shapes, his Chief Engineer.
“Captain, now you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Scotty proclaimed as he grinned at Jim.
“Could say the same,” Jim replied.
He helped them up and this time he had Chekov and the first group to help answer questions.
“Are those bastards on my ship?” Scotty asked.
“They are, but we have Spock and Security hassling them. Need to get you and the others to Sickbay,” Jim said.
“I need to check with my team,” Scotty protested.
“Too bad,” Jim countered. “I want you seen to first by the Medical staff. You have blood on your head and you know how faint I get at the sight of it.” Jim winked at Scotty, knowing the man hated having to report to Sickbay as soon as he came back from an away mission just as much as Jim did. They both knew it was important and yet they would still come up with as many reasons to avoid it as possible.
Chekov was leaning over Marla as Jim walked around to put a call into Sickbay and let them know Jim was bringing them some patients.
“Kirk to Sickbay,” Jim said and waited for the reply.
He frowned at the comm unit when there was no immediate reply. He waited a few more seconds, and when there was still no response, he hailed Sickbay again, and then a third time.
“Go, Captain. Give us the all clear when you can,” Scotty said.
Jim knew he was right, if Sickbay had been breached, then they were in serious trouble. The crew being hampered with their arms bound would just be a hindrance.
“Bones, I’m on my way!” Jim said one final time into the comm unit before turning and heading toward the door.
Jim noticed that Chekov had followed him, so Jim stopped, turned toward him and held up a hand.
“I need you to stay here and help the crew,” Jim ordered, before turning and running out the door and toward Sickbay. Fear made him run faster. If Bones was hurt, he knew that he would be compromised even more than he already was. He thought of this crew as his family and it was his job to protect them. So far he hadn’t been completely successful, but this was just the start of the battle. In the end he was determined that he would win and his people would be safe.
The final corner had him running into a security team.
“Captain, we were sent to assist you,” one of them told him.
“Good,” Jim said as he took off at a run toward the door he could see.
The door refused to open when he got within range, so he stepped over to the panel and entered his override, but it still refused.
He pushed the comm unit on the wall, hailing the Bridge and ordering them to override the locking system.
“System is not responding, Captain,” he was told almost immediately.
Jim stepped over to the door and started hitting it with his fists.
“Bones! Bones!” he yelled. “I’m out here with a security team. Let us in!”
oOo
Chapter 12 this way