Chapter Text
Chapter 1: The Enterprise
The Captain was interrogating the prisoner, John Harrison, as if I wasn’t even there. Of course, he probably ignored me because he trusted me, or at least my Starfleet training, and that I would keep my mouth shut about anything I heard or saw. I was used to being treated like an imbecile who couldn’t comprehend politics or the delicacy of kept secrets in times of war. It is how everyone sees security officers like me. We aren’t smart enough to be a scientist or clever enough to be in charge, so we used what we had, our brawn. For the most part, that stereotype holds true. No, I am not saying that most in Starfleet Security are practically brain damaged, in fact, most of the Security Officers have at least average level intelligence, and some even would qualify as smart. It isn’t our intelligence (or supposed lack thereof) that makes us good Security, nor is it our brawn that really makes us… us. We are “good” soldiers. We don’t ask questions. We don’t hesitate to follow orders. We are Starfleet Security.
Well, I say “we”… but I am nothing like them. My IQ has been well into the 160s since I was a child. My body has always been healthier, faster, and stronger - better than the rest. In all rights I should be commanding my own fleet by now, or heading some top secret research mission, anything but Starfleet Security. So why is it that I am wearing red, because I like being a circus chimp that does funny tricks for the crowd? No.
After the Eugenics Wars DNA manipulation was banned and all of the decedents of Augments were slaughtered except for a few who managed to survive as refugees in the most inhospitable places in the world. Although they were half Augment they failed to survive and except for a few new Augments being created illegally now and then, the race all but died out.
My great grandfather managed to survive it all. Despite his own mother’s attempts to kill him, despite everything, he survived. I have theorized that he was the sole survivor because he was the only one of the half-Augments to truly inherit enough augmented chromosomes to be truly above the rest of humanity. To cement his survival and pass on his Augment DNA he had to hide who he was. He raised his own son, my Grandfather Pat, to hide his superiority. Grandfather Pat then raised my father to be ashamed of it, leaving me, the first daughter in our line, to inherit both superiority and inferiority. I hate them for it, as much as I can, for although they have wronged me they are also my family. I hate them, but I would do anything to save them.
That is why I subjected myself to mediocrity, because if I strived for the greatness that I so wholesomely craved I would risk exposing myself and consequently my family. The Federation has locked people up for less than being born from the Superior Race.
It was as I eavesdropped on the conversation between John Harrison and Captain Kirk that I learned why my life so far had been worth it all. I listened as he revealed his true identity as Khan Noonien Singh, the Khan. I listened as he explained about the rest of the surviving Augments, barely keeping my cool as he told of how Admiral Marcus had abused him and threatened his people.
As soon as the Captain left I pounced on my chance to ask Khan some pressing questions.
Stepping out from behind my station I approached Khan, who was standing in his cell, bored and completely ignoring me. I stared into his stoic face, hoping I could discern, just by looking at him, whether he was really the Khan or if he was just an impersonator. It was then that I realized he might be nothing more than an imposter. The man claiming to be Khan must have been aware of me, but he, like all the others, did not see me as important or threatening. He ignored me, so I decided to make him pay attention.
So I asked him a question that only he or one of his Augments should know, sparing my great grandfather, who survived till I was seven, long enough for him to impart upon me pride in my race.
“Why did you breed with the Inferior Race instead of keeping the blood pure?” I asked, keeping my face clear of hope, or worse, fear.
He didn’t even look at me.
“Answer me!” I screamed, pounding my fist into the glass like wall of his cell, careful not to use too much force and shatter it.
He glanced at me in slight amusement, clearly thinking of me as some angry monkey hopping about the room and posturing for dominance. I immediately felt chastised and ashamed of my behavior, but it had the desired effect of getting his attention, so I forged on.
“If you really are the Khan, prove it. Why did you and your people dilute your decedents with the blood of inferior humans? Why not just breed within other augmented circles?” I worded my questions carefully, not wanting to give away, just yet, that I was one of those diluted decedents.
He sized me up, clearly trying to judge what answer he should give. I knew he wouldn’t tell the truth the moment he looked into my eyes and I saw that he still thought of me as a chimp. I wondered briefly if he would have taken my question seriously if I had been wearing any color other than red.
“We were not attempting to breed. Those were momentary indiscretions I allowed my men, to prevent them becoming frustrated.” His voice, although speaking lies, was so deep and controlled and had such an air of dominance that I began to lean towards him actually being Khan, albeit unintentionally.
“Don’t bother lying. I know the truth. I just need to hear you say it.” I paused, watching him become very serious at the notion that I knew. I realized, for the first time, in that moment that I was treading in very dangerous waters.
He stayed silent and I knew he would never answer me, not while I stood there in a Starfleet uniform, not while he didn’t know just how loyal I was to Khan, whether he was Khan himself or not. I also knew, in that moment that he knew the truth. He knew that all of the female Augments from the Eugenics Wars were infertile. Yet I still didn’t trust that he was the Khan.
“Very well, we can just keep not saying it then. But I warn you now. If you are just an imposter; the Khan still has supporters out there and they will stop at nothing to tear you to shreds for your insolence.” I threatened, letting my furry at the idea just barely seep through into my eyes, hinting that I would be first in line to punish him if punishment was warranted.
He didn’t react.
The doors to the Brig swooshed open and I jumped, flinging my hand into my uniform dress pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which I began wiping at the glass with.
“Ensign. What exactly are you doing?” intoned Commander Spock.
“Yes, Ensign, what are you doing?” asked the Captain.
I half turned my body, displaying my hand wiping a smudge off the glass as well as my best “I am dumb, don’t pay attention to me” face. I noticed that Doctor McCoy was also with them, but he wasn’t paying any attention to me. All of his attention was focused on John Harrison, or maybe, Khan.
“Just cleaning a smudge off the glass, Captain, Sir!” I cheerily replied, using the slightly hick accent I used when pretending to be dumb.
Both the Commander and the Captain looked annoyed at me, so I took that as my cue to exit their focus and retreated back to my station, once again pretending to not be interested in them at all. Paying me no further attention the three men approached the prisoner and began discussing taking some of the prisoners blood to prove he was who he said he was. That piqued my interest.
If they were going to check his blood I had to know the results. Only his blood could prove once and for all if he was the real Khan. While Doctor McCoy drew blood from the prisoner I pretended to be fiddling with the controls at the station, peaking at them as I ran my fingers over dials and buttons, careful not to affect any of them. When McCoy finished he quickly departed to the Medical Bay, the Captain and Commander following him out.
Once I was sure they were gone I walked over to him, the man behind the glass, just to look at him better.
“You spoke before of supporters, are you one of those?” his cold voice matched his face, impassive.
“I am a Starfleet Security officer. Eugenics and augmenting the human race is outlawed.” I said, avoiding the lie I would have to tell to keep my secret. I couldn’t afford to trust him until there was proof that he was the Khan and if he was Khan… I couldn’t risk a lie he would so easily detect.
For a moment, I hoped desperately that he wasn’t. If he was Khan then I would follow him into any fray, but I could not help but regret the possible death sentence that would impose upon the crew of the Enterprise. I may hate them just slightly less than my father and grandfather, but I also loved them. They were, after all, my crew. If it was not Khan that would come between us I would die to protect them, even more, I would kill. But with the Augments in the picture things were becoming complicated for me.
I had never given my allegiance to Khan and his people, but I felt in my heart that it was where my allegiance was owed. On the other hand, I loved the Enterprise and its crew, and I had taken an oath of allegiance to them. I feared that making that choice would break a part of me.
The doors to the Brig opened again, but I didn’t try to hide what I was doing this time. My internal clock knew that it was the end of my shift, which meant that the man striding through the door would scoff in exactly three, two, one…
“Ugh! What de hell are you doin’ standn’ away frem ye post, again, Ensign Andreas!” growled my very Irish commanding officer, Lieutenant O’Leary.
I made a stumbled apology and made my way out of the Brig, once again playing the fool. It occurred to me, as I fled, that the man claiming to be Khan had seen me change personality two, maybe three times by that point, but I was too desperate to know the man’s true identity to care that he now knew I was not acting congruent to my nature.
On my way to the Medical Bay, while not bothering paying any attention to the ship wide broadcast of Admiral Marcus admitting to everything Khan had accused him of, I stopped at a ladder and banged my head on it hard enough to split the skin, as if I had slipped. After my head cleared enough I staggered down the hall to the turbo lift, mumbling “Sick Bay”.
Doctor McCoy was in his office intent on his work when I walked in, making sure to stagger every few steps, to keep up appearances.
“Oh dear!” cried a male nurse, grabbing the attention of everyone within auditory range.
He swept forward, away from the crewman he had been treating for a cold, and grabbed a hypo-spray as he approached.
“Ensign, sit down, you might have a concussion.
There was no way such a small wound would have caused me a concussion, but I complied, allowing the nurse to tend to my wound while I watched McCoy.
The Doctor was rubbing his chin as he stared at his computer, looking perturbed. My conflicted emotions of hope and fear escalated as he exited his office and the sick bay at a rapid jog, not stopping to speak with anyone.
I allowed the Nurse to finish patching me up and discretely passed the Doctor’s office as I left, catching a glimpse of his computer. The one glimpse was enough; John Harrison and Khan were the same man.
Suddenly the Battle Stations siren blared and the Enterprise jumped to warp. Just seconds later I was paged to report to the Brig.
‘Did Khan escape?’ I wondered to myself.
The Captain and the Commander were arguing when I arrived at the Brig, whilst Khan was being escorted out of his cell and surrounded by armed Red shirts. Falling into formation with them I set my phaser to kill, knowing that if I really had to stop Khan, nothing else would do the job. Even with my esteemed heritage, I was no match for one like Khan in a physical fight.
Khan didn’t look at me as I stood next to him, directly to his right, waiting for the Captain to explain where we were going. He and Commander Spock were arguing about Khan.
“You cannot trust him, Captain.” The Commander advised.
“I don’t,” Kirk replied, staring right into his eyes “but we don’t have a choice.”
“We are running short on time,” Khan interrupted.
Being that close to him while he spoke, without a wall between us, caused me to shiver slightly. Maybe I was just slightly attracted to him, as he was handsome, but he also had an almost impossibly large presence. I felt the weight of it bearing down on me as if he was pressing me into the floor with own his hands.
Khan glanced at me for a millisecond, but no one noticed except for him, fortunately.
“Alright let’s do this.” The Captain said, in his usual gleeful tone.
We followed him out of the Brig and down to C-Deck where the external-pressure suits were kept. Khan and Kirk discussed their plan while Spock continued to complain that the mission was foolhardy. Kirk ignored him as per usual.
Khan was the first one out the hatch.
“You and you,” Commander Spock called suddenly, pointing at me and other Ensign. “Come with me to the Bridge. The rest of you return to your posts.”
He swept out of the room, the other Red Shirt and I followed him in haste, not being able to walk at his pace without looking hurried.
We made it up to the Bridge just in time to watch Kirk and Khan shoot through space at another ship. I had never seen one like it before but it was designed like a Starfleet vessel, the only differences were that it was black and at least three times larger than the Enterprise (one of the largest ships in the fleet).
“What is that?” gasped the Ensign next to me.
Spock ignored him as he took the Conn and listened to Lieutenants Chekov and Uhura give commentary and advice to the Captain. Taking my post by the Turbolift I watched in awe as Khan effortlessly moved through an asteroid field without going off course, unlike Kirk. They both made it to the tiny hatch on the mysterious ship, though, and from then on we were left to merely listen to their comms as they made their way through the ominous black ship.
“Commander, the transmission you requested is ready.” Said Lieutenant Uhura.
“Put it on.”
The transmission was too pixilated to make out for a moment and then we all saw Spock Prime on the viewing screen. I listened, becoming enraged as they chatted about how to trick Khan into thinking that his crew of 72 Augments was dead. That they could just stand there and talk about making a man believe his family was dead while simultaneously blowing him up… it disgusted me.
They ended the transmission and Commander Spock gave orders to remove the Augments from their cryotubes, and to rig those bombs to blow. I just stood there by the Turbolift, questioning what I should do, act or do nothing, betray Starfleet or betray Khan.
The view screen lit up again but this time it showed the Captain, being held at phaser point by Khan.
“I am going to make this very simple for you.” Khan said. “Your crew, for my crew.”
“You betrayed us.” Spock observed.
“Oh you are smart Mr. Spock.” Khan mocked.
The Captain tried to tell Spock “Don’t-” but was cut off my Khan knocking him on the back of the head with the phaser. Everyone on the bridge including myself tensed.
“Mr. Spock, give me my crew.” Ordered Khan.
“And what will you do when you get them?”
“Continue the work we were doing before we were banished.”
“Which is I understand it the genocide of any being you find to be less than superior.”
Khan was becoming impatient, “Shall I destroy you Mr. Spock, or will you give me what I want.”
The Commander paused before admitting, “We have no transporter capabilities.”
“Fortunately mine are perfectly functional. Drop your shields.” Khan ordered.
“If I do that I have no guarantee that you will not destroy us as soon as you have what you want.”
“Well let’s play this out logically, Mr. Spock. Firstly I will kill your Captain to display my resolve. If yours holds I will have no choice but to kill you and your entire crew.”
“If you kill this crew you will also kill your own.”
“Your crew requires oxygen, mine does not. I will target your life support systems, located behind the aft nacelle, and after every single crewman aboard your ship suffocates, I will walk over your cold corpses to recover my people.
“Now, shall we begin?” Khan finished resolutely.
They stared at each other for just a moment before Spock gave the order to lower the shields.
“Wait!” I screamed, making my choice on instinct, not being able to bear the thought of Khan dying with the false knowledge that his family was gone too.
“It’s a trick, Khan.” I yelled.
“Restrain her!” Ordered Spock.
“What’s this,” Khan asked furious.
“They removed your crew from the torpedoes, they put them in the Medical Bay and rigged-” the other Ensign cut me off by covering my mouth with her hand and putting me in a head lock. I threw her off, dashing toward Spock. I was determined to at least go down swinging. As I stepped forward, however, a transporter beam wrapped around me and I was frozen and tingling and blind. The next thing I saw was Khan’s enigmatic gaze.
My eyes widened as I realized he had transported me abort his ship. His attention left me immediately to refocus on Commander Spock, who was rapidly trying to regain control of the situation. The torpedoes they had intended to send over to Khan’s ship were seconds from going off and there was no time or way to stop them. Khan laughed as he watched the Enterprise explode.
On the floor of the Bridge on Khan’s ship the Captain lay unconscious and the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, although I had no idea how or why he got aboard this ship, was crouched low in an unthreatening stance. Close to the body and squished head of Admiral Marcus, a gruesome sight that I brushed over rather than take in, was a woman with a blonde bob and wearing a Starfleet science uniform.
Wailing in rage the woman raised her arm, not trying to stand (an action I attributed to the darkening bruise and bright red spot on a slightly askew leg), and pointed a phaser at Khan. She didn’t even get a blast off before he shot her down. I watched in morbid fascination as her body disappeared in an instant, vaporized by a phaser set to kill. I had never seen someone die from a federation phaser before. I didn’t see Khan shoot me either.
I woke to the sounds of someone pacing. This someone was around 150 to 190 pounds, approximately 6 feet tall, based on their length of stride, and in an agitated mindset. When I opened my eyes I discovered that not only were my estimations correct, it was Captain James T. Kirk. Although I guess he wasn’t exactly a Captain anymore.
Sitting up I discovered that I had been stunned, a feeling I had become familiar with through Starfleet training. It was accompanied by a slight dizziness and headache, probably from landing on cold hard metal instead of a safety mat. I groaned lowly, playing up my pain so that I seemed normal, a habit I had become so accustomed to I barely thought of it.
Kirk’s gaze snapped to me as I alerted him to my awakened state. He paused in his pacing, already half way across the room. The room, now that I could take it all in, was some sort of brig. I quickly guessed that Khan had locked us up in here after knocking us unconscious. What bothered me was that we were both still alive. The Chief Engineer was not anywhere to be seen.
“What happened?” I asked, keeping my voice low and husky.
“I wanted to ask you the same thing.” He scoffed, starting to pace again with his arms clasped behind his back. “The last thing I remember is being Pistol Whipped by Khan, and then I woke up here with you. Who are you anyway, Ensign?” he asked, clearly not remembering having spoken to me just hours earlier. At least I thought it had only been hours, who knew how much time had passed while I was unconscious.
“Ensign Andrea Smith, Captain. Starfleet Security.” I introduced myself, holding out a hand for him to shake.
Taking it and giving it a firm single shake Kirk took a step back from me and cocked his head to the side in contemplation.
“So… how did you end up on the Vengeance?” he asked.
“The Vengeance?” I asked, stalling, though I could guess it was the name of Khan’s ship.
“It’s the name of this ship.” He replied, turning away and looking out the clear wall of our cell.
“Oh…” I said, my mind racing for an explanation that wouldn’t make Kirk want to murder me. I had heard what he did to Khan when he found him, and that was just for the murder of one of his friends. What would he do to me when he found out I had caused the destruction of the Enterprise and everyone aboard her? I also knew I couldn’t risk mentioning the blonde lady getting killed or the Chief Engineer, without revealing I had been on the Bridge of Khan’s ship when the Enterprise was destroyed. Luckily for me the Chief Engineer was not around to contradict my story.
“I… uh,” I mumbled slowly, as if I was remembering instead of fabricating, “I was pulling guard duty on those freaky cryotubes things. You know, those things they pulled out of the torpedoes? And uh… I was leaning against one of them, ignorin’ Simmons yap on about his nephews, and… I felt that tingly feeling you get when you are being transported, ya know? And then I was in this strange hangar bay. I was looking around… and somebody must of shot me from behind.”
Taking in a breath I watched Kirk’s back as he listened. It seemed he had already dismissed me from his attentions, so I allowed myself to relax; it wouldn’t do if I appeared too tense.
“Captain… what is going on?” I asked, wanting to know what he knew.
His neck turned slightly to me and he sighed. “I don’t know, but you can bet Spock will be here any minute to save our asses.” He smiled, obviously thinking he needed to reassure me.
He sauntered over to my metal bench and took a seat, leaving only a foot worth of space between us. “So… where you from, Ensign?” he drew my attention away from the current predicament.
While Kirk and I chatted about Earth and other small talk crap I tried to focus on my current situation.
Khan obviously didn’t trust me, or he wouldn’t have stunned me in the first place, but what worried me slightly was that he hadn’t killed me outright. If he didn’t trust me it wouldn’t matter if I was loyal to him or not, I was as good as dead. What worried me was the in between now and death… the part where I was likely to be used to torture Kirk.
Jim Kirk was not the type of man to give information under torture, not if it was to protect the Federation, Starfleet or Earth. But if he was faced with watching the torture of one of his crew… it would be hard for him to not give in. And I didn’t see any other members of the Enterprise crew waiting around to be tortured.
At least I didn’t until a battered and limp man was dragged into the Brig by his arms. I didn’t recognize the two men holding him up, but even through the unpleasant sight of blood and bruises I could make out the distinctive physical features of the Chief Engineer. The two men, who were wearing old fashioned clothes from 300 years ago, pulled the engineer up onto his feet and held him up in front of Kirk and mine’s cell. His head hung limp but from our seated position we could see his eyes were open, wide with horror.
Khan strode into the Brig with a pleasant smile on his face, accented with splattered blood.
“Hello, Captain.” He said in his deep masculine drawl.
“Khan.” Kirk growled, standing up. “What happened to the Enterprise?”
Khan ignored the question, looked over at the limp engineer, still smiling, and walked over behind him to pat his head. The Chief Engineer flinched.
“Your friend has a delightful scream.” He mocked, his voice dropping even lower at the end of his sentence.
Kirk moved closer to the cell’s transparent wall, “You’re a sick bastard. You know that, Khan?” he spat.
Khan’s smile didn’t falter or fade, but it didn’t grow wider either. He seemed to be faking the emotion altogether, for Kirk’s benefit. Khan was toying with Kirk.
Instead of answering Kirk, Khan gestured to his men and they threw the engineer forward. It looked as if he would hit the clear wall face first, but instead the wall disappeared long enough for his body to fly through and land in a bloody mess on the floor of the now cramped cell. Kirk leapt down to help his injured friend while I watched Khan watch him. A glint of emotion entered his eyes and I could tell he was pleased by Kirk’s reaction, really pleased. It seemed Kirk was playing right into his hands.
Angry, Kirk rose from his now unconscious friend’s side and rushed the clear wall. He slammed his fists against the surface as if it was Khan he was beating, shouting and screaming at him. Khan, who had achieved the objective he had come for, turned around with a satisfied smirk on his face and left the Brig, his two men right behind him.
I was left alone with an enraged Kirk and the unconscious body of the man who could turn that anger against me. Silently I moved to the engineers limp body and checked his vitals at his wrist, although I had no watch to check the pace. It was even and steady, although a bit weak, so it seemed he had simply passed out from exhaustion or shock. Hoping that he stayed unconscious for a long time or even fell into a comma, for both our sakes, I maneuvered the slight man into my arms and half dragged half lifted him over to the metal bench. Kirk, who had calmed down some, helped me lift him onto the bench, although I could have done it myself.
In fact, I could have picked the smallish man up bridal style, or slung him over my shoulder, but I wasn’t supposed to be that strong, even as a Security Officer. So I feign weakness, just like I had in every aspect of my life since I was old enough to attend primary school. Not that I did, attend primary school that is; my father was so afraid I would be too remarkable that he kept me away from normal people until I was old enough to understand why our superiority needed to be kept secret. I was thirteen before I was allowed to meet anyone outside of the family.
I did my best to wipe the blood off of the engineer’s wounds, to see how bad they were, while Kirk went back to pacing the length of the cell. He had taken sixty-eight turns about the small room by the time I had cleaned the unconscious Chief Engineer’s body enough to see that Khan had only inflicted minuscule wounds on the man, as to avoid killing him, but had placed them just so to cause the most pain. Khan was obviously an apt torturer. I didn’t share my thoughts with Kirk, instead I simply said that he would be okay, that most of the wounds would be gone within weeks with little to no scaring. It seemed to cool Kirk’s head a little bit and he stopped pacing and instead sat down against the wall with the best view of the entrance to the Brig. I watched the small injured man for any signs of regaining consciousness.