You should have let him sleep (chapter 10 of 15)
Chapter 10 - The Clash
Wherein I and my wonderful beta rranne are playing the game 'Spot the Sherlock reference'. See the end of this chapter for more notes.
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Materializing from the transporter beam felt like being flayed alive, only in reverse. John doubled over and braced his hands against his knees, breathing consciously against the eviscerating pain, till the rise of bile from his stomach subsided again, and he congratulated himself- he made it without falling to the ground this time.
That’s why he thought it highly unfair when his knees hit the floor the very next moment, the weight of the guard pinning him down, his windpipe squeezed in a perfect headlock. John lifted his eyes to the sight of a phaser aimed at him by another guard; the screens all around them flaring with intruder red alert. From behind the imposingly broad shoulders of the guard, a number of people gaped at him- with the honorable exception of a Vulcan in the Captain’s seat, whose surprise of beholding a stranger, suddenly materialized in the middle of the bridge, was betrayed only by the way his eyebrows almost touched his hairline.
John knew there was not much time for formalities. He raised his hands in the universal token of surrender and engaged his most convictive tone: “Shields. Raise them. Now.”
“And who exactly-” a broad-faced man with three pips on his sleeve began. This must be the Admiral.
“You’re Kirk?” John didn’t wait for the affirmative. “Reliant’s been taken over by a group of prisoners we’ve found on Ceti Alpha Five. Their leader’s called-”
“Khan,” Kirk finished for him, momentarily frozen. Then his eyes widened and he shouted - “Shields up, Mr. Chekov!” - in the same moment when the tactical officer exclaimed: “Sir, Reliant’s raised her shields - they’re firing on us!”
“Brace for impact,” John heard the remarkably calm voice of the Captain, knowing that the shields wouldn’t be at their full capacity in time for the blast. He shook off the guard and gripped the armrest of the nearest chair. He only hoped that his calculation of Khan’s intentions was right- that the man would want to deal with Kirk in person; that he would avoid a direct strike on the bridge.
The attack was devastating. The sheer energy of Reliant’s phasers sank its teeth into the unprotected body of the Enterprise, hitting the secondary hull first; the energy heart of the ship. Second strike left a scorched line of destruction along the deflectors and main phasers. Out of the cacophony of reports on the bridge, John could make out that the aim was purposeful- it rendered the Enterprise naked, powerless, and defenceless. Their shields, barely a half-way up when the attack came, wavered and dropped.
When the inertia dampers started up again and everything has calmed down a little, the communication officer looked up from her console: “Sir, it’s Reliant. They want a word with us.”
Kirk’s hands balled into fists. The Vulcan stood up from his seat, smoothing his uniform to match his voice as he asked: “Admiral? Should I address him?”
Kirk set his mouth thin. “No, Mr. Spock. We all know who he wants. Open a channel, Uhura; put the bastard on the screen.”
John crouched in the furthest corner of the bridge, hiding from the viewscreen line of sight, once again glad that nobody was noticing him. When the all-too-familiar face appeared, John was fairly sure Khan couldn’t see him.
“Kirk, my old friend.” Khan’s smile was bleeding cold. “You don’t seem much surprised. Tell me; what gave me away? What premonition made you to raise your shields - even if too late - against an innocent looking ship of your own Fleet?”
John swore inwardly and shook his head desperately, gesturing so that they wouldn’t give him away. Kirk seemed to forget him entirely, his blazing eyes transfixed on the screen; Spock, instead, shot him an inquiring glance. An expression of revelation flew across his features, but he hid it quickly. He craned his neck inconspicuously to check on the sensor readings and then he spoke: “The Miranda class specifications require a crew of twenty five. The discovery of twenty seven humans aboard, along with two not-long dead bodies, was instantly suspicious.”
The Vulcans do not lie, yeah? John grinned despite the stress of the situation as both commanding officers locked eyes for a second - a question and a reply; silent understanding born through the years of companionship. John felt a sharp pang of ache when he remembered the same easy familiarity that once was between him and Sherlock.
“Where is Reliant’s crew?” Kirk barked out in an attempt to dominate the conversation.
“Oh, ever the conscientious commander,” Khan leaned back in his seat. “I can ease your worry, Admiral. With the exception of the foolishly impetuous Captain Terrell, the rest of his crew is currently enjoying the beauties of the deserted sand-heap of a planet you’ve left us on-”
“Ceti Alpha Five wasn’t a desert planet! There was life, a fair chance-”
“It was a death sentence!” Khan shouted. “Six months after we were left there, a comet exploded in our atmosphere, laying everything waste. Forty six men and women, Kirk, forty six members of my family died in your name.”
“That wasn’t my intention! How could I-”
“Yes. How could you have known? Perhaps if you had checked the entire planetary system; you could have seen the comet, yet months away, on a collision course. It was a mistake, to omit the greater picture. And for this mistake, for this omission, you shall be answerable.”
Kirk gritted his teeth. Damage reports rolled on the side bar of the screen, giving him very little ground to stand upon. John noticed there were no casualties, so far. Kirk glared at Khan as if he would pluck the liver out of his body, if there were any.
“What do you want?” Kirk admitted his defeat finally, as if the answer wasn’t already known to him.
“A very unbalanced exchange,” Khan spiced his voice with nonchalant amusement. “Your life for the four hundred lives of your crew, which are currently at my mercy. Your death for the forty six deaths of my people, buried underneath the sand dunes of Ceti Alpha Five. You see, Admiral, I am being generous.”
“Khan, how do I know you’ll keep your word?” Kirk asked.
“Oh, I’ve given you no word to keep, Admiral. In my judgment, you simply have no alternative.”
Once again, Spock looked at Kirk; a message -non-transmittable through the communication screen- in his eyes. Kirk understood the hint. “Give me five minutes, Khan.”
Khan laughed. “What for, Admiral? To ascertain for yourself that there really is no way out of this? You could have trusted me. But I am still generous. You shall have your moment of privacy.”
“It is much appreciated,” Kirk replied more brusquely than a dying man should and Khan’s face disappeared from the screen.
“What is it, Spock?” The Vulcan already moved to stand behind the tactical console, scrolling through the database.
“Reliant is a Federation vessel. We can use their prefix-code to establish a remote control over the ship. We will be able to lower their shields before they override our control manually.”
“Bridge to engine room,” Kirk hit the intercom button next to the Captain’s seat, “Scotty, we need power for the phasers. How much can you give me?”
“The energizer’s bypassed like a Christmas tree,” an agitated voice came through the speaker, “so you better not push it.”
“Mr. Sulu, lock phasers on target and await my command,” Kirk addressed the helmsman, who nodded: “Phasers locked, sir.”
From his corner, John watched the effortless coordination of this crew, their actions slotting together like clockwork. It occurred to him that these people must have faced the no-win scenario more than a healthy number of times in the past.
*
Khan ordered Joachim to open the hailing frequency again. “Your five minutes are up, Admiral. Now I expect you to-”
“Our shields are dropping!” Joachim exclaimed in dismay as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes.
“Then raise them!”
Joachim tried and tried again, to no effect. “I can’t!” His fist pounded on the console. Khan’s eyes went glassy with concentration. “The override...the controls must be somewhe-”
He didn’t get to finish his thought as the blast shattered his ship, all words drowned in the screeching of the strained material and frantic wailing of the computer alarm.
When everything stilled again, Joachim was the first to speak.
“Shields are gone, sir. Our weapons, too.”
Khan narrowed his eyes on the tactical screen. “Then why is he not firing? Why doesn’t he just end us?”
“Perhaps he’s got no power left,” Joachim hazarded. “If so, we are in a stalemate.”
*
“We tried it once your way, Khan; are you game for a rematch?” Kirk poured as much mockery in his words as he could. “Now you can’t harm my ship. Khan, I’m laughing at your ‘superior intellect.’”
Khan braced himself in the command seat, knuckles white. His voice, though, came out controlled, rumbling deep with dangerous determination, “you think you’ve cheated death again? No, my old friend. From hell’s heart, I stab at thee- for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee!”
He drew a steadying breath. “This is my game, and I’ll watch you dance. I sincerely hope that your ship still manages a decent speed, because you have to follow me to Ceti Alpha Five now.”
“And why would I do that?” Kirk folded his arms.
“I happen to have a very interesting thing in my hands - the Genesis device. Now, as you have deprived me of my intended form of revenge, I will take consolation in returning back to my prison planet and performing a genesis upon it.”
Khan smiled when he saw the totally blank look on Kirk’s face.
“It would, of course, mean an unfortunate end for the crew I left there. Unless you...oh, Admiral, you already know the bargain. It is the same - your life for a crew. It almost becomes boring, when you think of it.”
The Reliant began to retreat. “As long as I have Genesis...” Khan’s voice suddenly became almost sing-song, “I’ve got you!”
John’s jaw dropped as he recognized the impression. He remembered that particular intonation all too well from the night at the pool.
He’s projecting Moriarty into Kirk. Jesus. He’s merging the two together; as Sherlock, he only ever had one enemy worth the effort; now, with Kirk, his mind takes the well-trodden path. He subconsciously blames Kirk not only for the deaths of his people, but also -as Moriarty- for taking his friends from him; for forcing him to abandon them in order to save them. That’s why now, with only one enemy to face, he still feels twice as much hate.
John pressed his palms to his temples. It means that Mycroft was right. Sherlock wasn’t dead. He was buried deep inside Khan, in some room that even Khan didn’t dare to enter, and John only hoped that he still possessed the key.
“Khan,” Kirk exclaimed, “what is Genesis?”
“I’m sure you find the answer in the Federation classified archives,” Khan responded amusedly, his hand already hovering above the communication panel. “Do your research.”
The screen faded. Kirk turned to Spock with the most puzzled expression. “What the hell is Genesis?”
John knew a good cue when it fell to his lap. “It’s a terraforming device,” he responded. “The life project of Doctors March and Madison that puts into praxis their theory on sub-atomic particles. Basically, it’s a wave that transforms all matter within its reach into a new matrix, programmed within the device. Take a dead planet and you have a paradise. Take one where life already exists...”
“It would destroy such life in favour of its new matrix,” Spock finished for him. “Fascinating.”
The bridge crew looked at John questioningly. Surrounded with so many people in uniforms, he squared his shoulders unconsciously.
“John Watson. Captain John Watson,” he added for the sake of smugness, already regretting the moment he would have to admit that he’s no starship commander.
“Well, who exactly are you, Captain?” Kirk went back to his very first question.
“It would seem, sir,” John considered his words carefully, “that I am the ace up your sleeve in this game.”
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.tbc Chapter 11
Author's Note:
Just in case that this piece still has any readers: Please, be so kind and do comment. The big box below is there for a reason. I'm comment-addict. I know that God loves silent readers but, frankly, I don't. Love me or hate me, just let me know that you're here. I'm putting lot of work into this story, I'm researching, consulting - it's not even my idea, I'm writing up to a prompt - my beta rranne is so dedicated to the job that I'm feeling like actually improving in English - but, should there be any more chapter with virtually none feedback (honourable exceptions, please don't get offended), I'm going to drop this story. My husband would love me to do so, by the way.
So. I've got this author's note prepared to be posted tonight and then rranne sent me back the latest chapter, together with a cover. A cover. She made me a cover as if for a real book. It's amazing. All my life, I've been doing things for others - illustrations, prompt fills, recs. This is...a novelty. It's like when ArianeDeVere wrote a story for me - it's a gift. I am so rarely presented with a gift that it knocked the wind out of me.
Well, I'm not dropping this story. But I'd still very much like see you commenting.
Wherein I and my wonderful beta rranne are playing the game 'Spot the Sherlock reference'. See the end of this chapter for more notes.
.
.
.
Materializing from the transporter beam felt like being flayed alive, only in reverse. John doubled over and braced his hands against his knees, breathing consciously against the eviscerating pain, till the rise of bile from his stomach subsided again, and he congratulated himself- he made it without falling to the ground this time.
That’s why he thought it highly unfair when his knees hit the floor the very next moment, the weight of the guard pinning him down, his windpipe squeezed in a perfect headlock. John lifted his eyes to the sight of a phaser aimed at him by another guard; the screens all around them flaring with intruder red alert. From behind the imposingly broad shoulders of the guard, a number of people gaped at him- with the honorable exception of a Vulcan in the Captain’s seat, whose surprise of beholding a stranger, suddenly materialized in the middle of the bridge, was betrayed only by the way his eyebrows almost touched his hairline.
John knew there was not much time for formalities. He raised his hands in the universal token of surrender and engaged his most convictive tone: “Shields. Raise them. Now.”
“And who exactly-” a broad-faced man with three pips on his sleeve began. This must be the Admiral.
“You’re Kirk?” John didn’t wait for the affirmative. “Reliant’s been taken over by a group of prisoners we’ve found on Ceti Alpha Five. Their leader’s called-”
“Khan,” Kirk finished for him, momentarily frozen. Then his eyes widened and he shouted - “Shields up, Mr. Chekov!” - in the same moment when the tactical officer exclaimed: “Sir, Reliant’s raised her shields - they’re firing on us!”
“Brace for impact,” John heard the remarkably calm voice of the Captain, knowing that the shields wouldn’t be at their full capacity in time for the blast. He shook off the guard and gripped the armrest of the nearest chair. He only hoped that his calculation of Khan’s intentions was right- that the man would want to deal with Kirk in person; that he would avoid a direct strike on the bridge.
The attack was devastating. The sheer energy of Reliant’s phasers sank its teeth into the unprotected body of the Enterprise, hitting the secondary hull first; the energy heart of the ship. Second strike left a scorched line of destruction along the deflectors and main phasers. Out of the cacophony of reports on the bridge, John could make out that the aim was purposeful- it rendered the Enterprise naked, powerless, and defenceless. Their shields, barely a half-way up when the attack came, wavered and dropped.
When the inertia dampers started up again and everything has calmed down a little, the communication officer looked up from her console: “Sir, it’s Reliant. They want a word with us.”
Kirk’s hands balled into fists. The Vulcan stood up from his seat, smoothing his uniform to match his voice as he asked: “Admiral? Should I address him?”
Kirk set his mouth thin. “No, Mr. Spock. We all know who he wants. Open a channel, Uhura; put the bastard on the screen.”
John crouched in the furthest corner of the bridge, hiding from the viewscreen line of sight, once again glad that nobody was noticing him. When the all-too-familiar face appeared, John was fairly sure Khan couldn’t see him.
“Kirk, my old friend.” Khan’s smile was bleeding cold. “You don’t seem much surprised. Tell me; what gave me away? What premonition made you to raise your shields - even if too late - against an innocent looking ship of your own Fleet?”
John swore inwardly and shook his head desperately, gesturing so that they wouldn’t give him away. Kirk seemed to forget him entirely, his blazing eyes transfixed on the screen; Spock, instead, shot him an inquiring glance. An expression of revelation flew across his features, but he hid it quickly. He craned his neck inconspicuously to check on the sensor readings and then he spoke: “The Miranda class specifications require a crew of twenty five. The discovery of twenty seven humans aboard, along with two not-long dead bodies, was instantly suspicious.”
The Vulcans do not lie, yeah? John grinned despite the stress of the situation as both commanding officers locked eyes for a second - a question and a reply; silent understanding born through the years of companionship. John felt a sharp pang of ache when he remembered the same easy familiarity that once was between him and Sherlock.
“Where is Reliant’s crew?” Kirk barked out in an attempt to dominate the conversation.
“Oh, ever the conscientious commander,” Khan leaned back in his seat. “I can ease your worry, Admiral. With the exception of the foolishly impetuous Captain Terrell, the rest of his crew is currently enjoying the beauties of the deserted sand-heap of a planet you’ve left us on-”
“Ceti Alpha Five wasn’t a desert planet! There was life, a fair chance-”
“It was a death sentence!” Khan shouted. “Six months after we were left there, a comet exploded in our atmosphere, laying everything waste. Forty six men and women, Kirk, forty six members of my family died in your name.”
“That wasn’t my intention! How could I-”
“Yes. How could you have known? Perhaps if you had checked the entire planetary system; you could have seen the comet, yet months away, on a collision course. It was a mistake, to omit the greater picture. And for this mistake, for this omission, you shall be answerable.”
Kirk gritted his teeth. Damage reports rolled on the side bar of the screen, giving him very little ground to stand upon. John noticed there were no casualties, so far. Kirk glared at Khan as if he would pluck the liver out of his body, if there were any.
“What do you want?” Kirk admitted his defeat finally, as if the answer wasn’t already known to him.
“A very unbalanced exchange,” Khan spiced his voice with nonchalant amusement. “Your life for the four hundred lives of your crew, which are currently at my mercy. Your death for the forty six deaths of my people, buried underneath the sand dunes of Ceti Alpha Five. You see, Admiral, I am being generous.”
“Khan, how do I know you’ll keep your word?” Kirk asked.
“Oh, I’ve given you no word to keep, Admiral. In my judgment, you simply have no alternative.”
Once again, Spock looked at Kirk; a message -non-transmittable through the communication screen- in his eyes. Kirk understood the hint. “Give me five minutes, Khan.”
Khan laughed. “What for, Admiral? To ascertain for yourself that there really is no way out of this? You could have trusted me. But I am still generous. You shall have your moment of privacy.”
“It is much appreciated,” Kirk replied more brusquely than a dying man should and Khan’s face disappeared from the screen.
“What is it, Spock?” The Vulcan already moved to stand behind the tactical console, scrolling through the database.
“Reliant is a Federation vessel. We can use their prefix-code to establish a remote control over the ship. We will be able to lower their shields before they override our control manually.”
“Bridge to engine room,” Kirk hit the intercom button next to the Captain’s seat, “Scotty, we need power for the phasers. How much can you give me?”
“The energizer’s bypassed like a Christmas tree,” an agitated voice came through the speaker, “so you better not push it.”
“Mr. Sulu, lock phasers on target and await my command,” Kirk addressed the helmsman, who nodded: “Phasers locked, sir.”
From his corner, John watched the effortless coordination of this crew, their actions slotting together like clockwork. It occurred to him that these people must have faced the no-win scenario more than a healthy number of times in the past.
*
Khan ordered Joachim to open the hailing frequency again. “Your five minutes are up, Admiral. Now I expect you to-”
“Our shields are dropping!” Joachim exclaimed in dismay as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes.
“Then raise them!”
Joachim tried and tried again, to no effect. “I can’t!” His fist pounded on the console. Khan’s eyes went glassy with concentration. “The override...the controls must be somewhe-”
He didn’t get to finish his thought as the blast shattered his ship, all words drowned in the screeching of the strained material and frantic wailing of the computer alarm.
When everything stilled again, Joachim was the first to speak.
“Shields are gone, sir. Our weapons, too.”
Khan narrowed his eyes on the tactical screen. “Then why is he not firing? Why doesn’t he just end us?”
“Perhaps he’s got no power left,” Joachim hazarded. “If so, we are in a stalemate.”
*
“We tried it once your way, Khan; are you game for a rematch?” Kirk poured as much mockery in his words as he could. “Now you can’t harm my ship. Khan, I’m laughing at your ‘superior intellect.’”
Khan braced himself in the command seat, knuckles white. His voice, though, came out controlled, rumbling deep with dangerous determination, “you think you’ve cheated death again? No, my old friend. From hell’s heart, I stab at thee- for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee!”
He drew a steadying breath. “This is my game, and I’ll watch you dance. I sincerely hope that your ship still manages a decent speed, because you have to follow me to Ceti Alpha Five now.”
“And why would I do that?” Kirk folded his arms.
“I happen to have a very interesting thing in my hands - the Genesis device. Now, as you have deprived me of my intended form of revenge, I will take consolation in returning back to my prison planet and performing a genesis upon it.”
Khan smiled when he saw the totally blank look on Kirk’s face.
“It would, of course, mean an unfortunate end for the crew I left there. Unless you...oh, Admiral, you already know the bargain. It is the same - your life for a crew. It almost becomes boring, when you think of it.”
The Reliant began to retreat. “As long as I have Genesis...” Khan’s voice suddenly became almost sing-song, “I’ve got you!”
John’s jaw dropped as he recognized the impression. He remembered that particular intonation all too well from the night at the pool.
He’s projecting Moriarty into Kirk. Jesus. He’s merging the two together; as Sherlock, he only ever had one enemy worth the effort; now, with Kirk, his mind takes the well-trodden path. He subconsciously blames Kirk not only for the deaths of his people, but also -as Moriarty- for taking his friends from him; for forcing him to abandon them in order to save them. That’s why now, with only one enemy to face, he still feels twice as much hate.
John pressed his palms to his temples. It means that Mycroft was right. Sherlock wasn’t dead. He was buried deep inside Khan, in some room that even Khan didn’t dare to enter, and John only hoped that he still possessed the key.
“Khan,” Kirk exclaimed, “what is Genesis?”
“I’m sure you find the answer in the Federation classified archives,” Khan responded amusedly, his hand already hovering above the communication panel. “Do your research.”
The screen faded. Kirk turned to Spock with the most puzzled expression. “What the hell is Genesis?”
John knew a good cue when it fell to his lap. “It’s a terraforming device,” he responded. “The life project of Doctors March and Madison that puts into praxis their theory on sub-atomic particles. Basically, it’s a wave that transforms all matter within its reach into a new matrix, programmed within the device. Take a dead planet and you have a paradise. Take one where life already exists...”
“It would destroy such life in favour of its new matrix,” Spock finished for him. “Fascinating.”
The bridge crew looked at John questioningly. Surrounded with so many people in uniforms, he squared his shoulders unconsciously.
“John Watson. Captain John Watson,” he added for the sake of smugness, already regretting the moment he would have to admit that he’s no starship commander.
“Well, who exactly are you, Captain?” Kirk went back to his very first question.
“It would seem, sir,” John considered his words carefully, “that I am the ace up your sleeve in this game.”
.
.
.
.tbc Chapter 11
Author's Note:
Just in case that this piece still has any readers: Please, be so kind and do comment. The big box below is there for a reason. I'm comment-addict. I know that God loves silent readers but, frankly, I don't. Love me or hate me, just let me know that you're here. I'm putting lot of work into this story, I'm researching, consulting - it's not even my idea, I'm writing up to a prompt - my beta rranne is so dedicated to the job that I'm feeling like actually improving in English - but, should there be any more chapter with virtually none feedback (honourable exceptions, please don't get offended), I'm going to drop this story. My husband would love me to do so, by the way.
So. I've got this author's note prepared to be posted tonight and then rranne sent me back the latest chapter, together with a cover. A cover. She made me a cover as if for a real book. It's amazing. All my life, I've been doing things for others - illustrations, prompt fills, recs. This is...a novelty. It's like when ArianeDeVere wrote a story for me - it's a gift. I am so rarely presented with a gift that it knocked the wind out of me.
Well, I'm not dropping this story. But I'd still very much like see you commenting.