Previously on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…

“So this is all some twenty-year-old vendetta?” Carol asked. “I don’t understand. All this death?”

“We should never have left him there. He should have been returned to Earth to stand trial,” M’Benga said.

“I can’t swear I wouldn’t have done the same,” Jim said.

“La’an wouldn’t have let you,” M’Benga said.

Jim Kirk nodded and took a contemplative bite out of an apple. “The thing is,” he said, “From what Captain Terrell said, Reliant misplaced a whole planet.”

“What are you suggesting?” M’Benga asked, his tone a mixture of defensiveness and curiosity.

Kirk looked at the apple. “I certainly never heard about the Botany Bay incident. Starfleet would never have allowed it. Reliant was on a survey mission, but they thought they were orbiting a planet that doesn’t exist anymore. The only way that happens is if the official star charts were altered.”

David got it. “You think Pike set him up?”

“Admiral Pike would never-” M’Benga protested.

“Not on purpose,” Kirk interrupted. “Not the Chris Pike I know. But none of this makes sense unless someone deliberately hid what happened, hid a whole planet. Maybe he thought he was protecting them. But from Khan’s point of view…”

“So what do we do now?” M’Benga asked.

“Mister Saavik, your thoughts?” Kirk asked.

She raised an eyebrow. “Regulations seem clear. We are currently in a defensible position. Location and nature of enemy forces unknown. Support expected. We should remain here and wait for Enterprise to return. I suggest Captain Terrell, and Doctor McCoy join us here while Commander Ortegas remains with the Galileo to contact Enterprise.”

“Very by-the-book,” Kirk said. “But consider: Khan has a starfleet ship at his disposal. He may be laying in wait. We can reach Enterprise and apprise Admiral Pike of the situation.”

Saavik tilted her head as she considered. “Galileo has no defenses that would offer protection against a Miranda-class starship. Logic dictates that if Khan is ‘laying in wait,’ we would be presenting ourselves as an easy target.”

“Well argued,” Kirk said. “All right, Mister Saavik, we’ll play it your way. Carol, what kind of supplies do you have here?”

“There’s food in the Genesis cave,” she said. “Enough to last a lifetime, if necessary.”

“I thought this was Genesis,” M’Benga said, gesturing at the cavern around them.

“This?” Carol asked. “It took the Starfleet Corps of Engineers ten months in space suits to tunnel out all this. What we did in there, we did in a day. David, why don’t you show Doctor M’Benga and the Lieutenant our idea of food?”

“We can’t just sit here!” David protested.

“Yes we can,” Kirk said. “Saavik is right.”

David, led M’Benga and Saavik out, accompanied by Jeddah, one of the the other young scientists who had made the escape from Regula I.

“I did what you wanted,” Kirk said once they were out of earshot. “I stayed away. Why didn’t you tell him?”

“How can you ask me that? Were we together? Were we going to be? You had your world and I had mine. And I wanted him in mine, not chasing through the universe with his father. It’s bad enough with dad…” She choked up at the mention of her father.

“I’m sorry,” Kirk said. He struggled to think of something else to say.

“We argued,” she said. “The last conversation we had was an argument. He wanted more Starfleet oversight of Genesis.”

Kirk nodded. “Is that why he was here? To take Genesis?”

“I wouldn’t let him,” Carol said, defensively. “Neither would David. But he was under so much pressure. He stopped by unexpectedly on his way back to Earth from the Salius system.”

“Salius?” Kirk said, snapping to full attention. He drew his communicator. “Saavik, back here at the double. Things have changed. We’re leaving.”

“Admiral Pike, I have partial decrypt on that message from Starfleet command,” Uhura said. She placed her hand on her earpiece. “It’s…” Her brow scrunched in confusion. “We’re being ordered to abandon our mission and return to Regula I.”

Pike was confused. “We’re responding to a priority distress call,” he said. “We can’t just leave.”

Uhura shook her head. “It’s explicit sir. Priority status has been rescinded from Salius. Enterprise to return to Regula I, secure-” she paused a minute to check the exact words – “Secure all materials related to Project Genesis. This assignment considered override priority.”

Pike turned back to the viewscreen. “Thank you Commander,” he said. “Mister Sulu, prepare to break orbit.”

“Admiral,” La’an interjected, “We can’t just leave. All those people. Una.”

“Override priority doesn’t give us a lot of wiggle room. And… It doesn’t look like there’s anything we can do here.”

“Admiral,” Xon interrupted, “Sensors show a vessel approaching. It’s one of ours. USS Reliant.”

Pike sighed with relief. “That explains it,” he said. “Starfleet must’ve sent them to handle this rather than reading them in on Genesis.” He thought a second. “Reliant is Erica’s ship, isn’t it? Nyota, hail them, we’ll fill them in on the way out.”

“I’m unable to raise them, sir,” Uhura said.

“Interference?” Pike asked.

“Shouldn’t be a problem at this range.”

“They’re requesting communications, my lord,” Joachim reported.

“Let them eat static.”

“They haven’t raised shields,” the young man said.

Khan smiled. “Of course. We’re one big happy fleet. Ah, Pike, my old friend, do you know the Romulan proverb that tells us that revenge is a dish that is best served cold? It is very cold in space.”