Previously, on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…

“Rigor hasn’t set in, no fixed lividity,” Doctor M’Benga said, examining another of the bodies they had cut down. McCoy checked another body with his tricorder, his hand still shaking from the ordeal.

Jim studied one of the bodies. “I know him,” he said, a cold feeling rising in his chest.

“Admiral Marcus,” Saavik said. “Starfleet Special Security Projects.” She moved away.

“Marcus?” McCoy asked. “As in-”

Jim nodded. “Carol’s father. We didn’t see eye-to-eye on much, but still…”

“Captain Kirk,” Saavik called. She’d opened a locker.

Jim let out a little gasp of surprise. “Bones, help me.”

They worked together to lift the dazed but still-breathing figures out of the locker. Jim noted the captain’s pips on the older man. “I’m Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Reno.”

“Terrell,” the man managed, his eyes not quite managing to fix on Kirk. “Reliant.”

“Reliant? Where’s Doctor Marcus? And Genesis?” Jim pressed.

“He couldn’t find them. Even the data banks were empty. Wanted to tear the place apart.”

“Who? Who did this? Where’s your ship, your crew?” Jim demanded.

As Saavik helped the other survivor to her feet, M’Benga dropped his tricorder in surprise. “Erica?”

“It was Khan,” she said. “Ceti Alpha Five. He took the ship. Left the crew behind. He had these…” She touched her ear. “Things. Made us do things. Say things.”

“He tortured these people. Went wild. Slit their throats. He wanted Genesis,” Terrell said.

Jim didn’t understand. “Who’s Khan?”

****

“Approaching Salius Six,” Sulu announced as the Enterprise dropped out of warp.

“Standard orbit. Nyota, open a channel.”

“Sir, I’m not getting anything,” Uhura responded.

“I am unable to detect the colony,” Xon said.

Sam stepped to the science station beside him and checked the instruments. “Chris, you need to see this.”

In his younger days, Pike would’ve jumped to his feet. Age made it more pragmatic for him to order Xon’s display transferred to the main viewscreen instead.

The image of Salius VI below was replaced by a close view of a blackened crater. Informational overlays indicated points of impact and outlined a debris field. The prominent caption “ZERO LIFE SIGNS” flashed at the bottom of the screen.

“My God,” Sulu gasped. “It’s… gone.”

“Una…” Pike said. Composing himself, he barked, “What the hell happened here?”

“Romulans,” La’an spat. “Must be.”

“I am not detecting any traces of plasma residue,” Xon said. “The damage patterns are consistent with photon torpedoes.”

“Incoming encryted message from Starfleet Command,” Uhura said. “Wait… Sir, I’m having trouble with reception.”

****

“Did he make it down here?” Kirk asked as he surveyed the transporter room.

“Don’t think so,” Ortegas said. “He spent most of his time trying to beat information out of people.”

“Butcher,” M’Benga said, angrily.

“But he left without finding whatever it was he came here for,” Saavik reflected. “Illogical.”

“I don’t think he was firing on all thrusters,” Ortegas said, bitterly.

“Or,” Kirk mused, “He found something else. Something that changed the plan.” He was studying the transporter controls. “The unit’s been left on. Which means no one was left to turn it off.”

“Those people back there bought escape time for Genesis with their lives,” McCoy said.

Saavik checked the controls and raised an eyebrow in confusion. “This is not logical. These coordinates are deep inside Regula, a planetoid we know to be lifeless.”

“If Stage Two was completed, it was going to be underground,” Kirk remembered. “It was going to be underground, she said.”

“Stage two of what?” Saavik asked.

He didn’t answer. “Commander Ortegas, are you fit to pilot a shuttlecraft?”

She cracked her neck. “It’s been a few years, but I can manage it.”

Jim gestured to McCoy, Terrell and Ortegas. “Put Galileo on stand-by. We may need to get out of here in a hurry.” To the others, he said, “You’re with me. Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” M’Benga asked.

“Where they went,” Jim said, indicating the transporter controls.

McCoy spoke up. “What if they went nowhere?”

Jim forced his trademark smile. “Then if you’re very quick, you might get the chance to say ‘I told you so.'”

****

“It’s no use, sir,” Uhura said. “I’m being jammed on all long-range frequencies.”

“Xon?” Pike asked.

The science officer checked his console. “The interference is not the result of a natural phenomenon, nor is it a byproduct of the destruction of the Salius facility. The logical conclusion is that communications with Starfleet command are being blocked deliberately, by some entity with detailed knowledge of Starfleet subspace communication protocols.”

“If the Romulans have cracked code three, we’re in big trouble,” Sam said. “Uhura, can you reconstruct the message?”

“Working on it now, sir.”

****

“Genesis, I presume,” M’Benga said. The device, a tall cylinder of a design half-way between a deep space probe and a photon torpedo, still stood on the transporter pad beside a computer unit.

“Captain,” Saavik warned.

Kirk looked up to see a dark-haired scientist pointing a phaser at them. “Phasers down!” he demanded.

Before Kirk could respond, a younger, blond man appeared beside the first. “You!” he demanded, and launched himself at Kirk. They struggled a moment, but despite his age, Kirk was the superior fighter. “Where’s Doctor Marcus?” he demanded, forcing the young man to the floor.

“I’m Doctor Marcus!” he insisted. Kirk released him in surprise.

“Jim!”

Kirk looked back to the doorway to see Carol Marcus. When he looked back to the young man wriggling out of his grip, he recognized her features in him. And more…

“David?” he asked.

He retreated to his mother’s side. “Mother!” he protested. “They killed everyone we left behind. They killed grandpa.”

“Oh David,” she said. “Of course they didn’t. It wasn’t them. Jim, what is all of this about, what happened up there?”

“It’s a long story,” Kirk said. He looked around and adopted an impish smile. “Got anything to eat?”