Previously, on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…

On the bridge, Kirk looked to Saavik. “Time?”

“Three minutes, thirty seconds,” she said.

“Distance from the epicenter?”

Sulu answered, “Four hundred kilometers.” He paused, and asked, “We’re not going to make it, are we?”

Kirk looked to his son. David shook his head.

“Captain,” Xon said with surprise, “Main power is nominal.”

“I’m stealing your engineer,” Kirk said. “Go, Sulu!”

The Enterprise shot from the nebula just seconds before the nebula ceased to exist, contracting in the face of the Genesis wave. The diffuse cloud of ionized gasses imploded, millions of years of stellar evolution compressed into a few seconds. Where the nebula had been, a rocky planet remained, glowing red-hot with the energy of its accelerated creation.

“Status on Reliant?” Kirk demanded.

“I have them, sir,” Saavik said. “The ship is starting to break up.”

“Sulu, get us into transporter range.”

“I’m not sure I can, sir,” Sulu said. “They’ve got a big head-start and we’re still limited to low warp.”

Damn. He turned to Uhura. “Is Reliant still jamming our transmissions?”

“Intermittently,” Uhura said. “I’m still having trouble getting through.”

“Open a channel on band sigma three,” Kirk said.

“Sir? That’s an obsolete smuggler frequency. No one’s used it in decades.”

“I’m hoping Khan wouldn’t bother jamming it,” Kirk said. “And I know someone who might be listening, if we’re lucky.”

“Channel open,” Uhura said, then, surprised, “I’m receiving a hail.”

She put it on speaker. A thickly accented voice said, “This is USS Reno. Is that you, keptin?”

Kirk smiled. “About time we caught a break. Reno, the Reliant has been hijacked. Can you assist?”

“Keptin, we are conducting engine calibrations, but have negative tactical capability.”

“That’s okay. They’re not going to put up a fight. They’re about to break up, but Admiral Pike is aboard. We’re too slow to make the rescue. Think you could test those new engine upgrades?”

“Understood, we have your location and are preparing to attempt transwarp.”

Khan punched Pike in the jaw. A few minutes ago, the punch would’ve easily broken it, but Khan was far past running on fumes. It was still enough to make Pike see stars. He shoved Khan away.

“The unconquerable will!” Khan screamed. “Study of revenge, immortal hate!” He threw another punch, but Pike blocked it and countered with a body-blow. “Courage never to submit or yield-”

An uppercut silenced him for a moment. “Khan!” Pike roared, “It’s over. Look around you! Everyone’s dead and this ship is about to explode.”

“Never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep!” Khan yelled and jumped toward Pike again. “Farewell hope! Farewell fear! Farewell remorse! All good to me is lost, evil be thou my good.”

Pike braced himself against the railing and kicked with both feet as Khan came for him. “I,” he yelled as the kick connected, “Have had!” he kicked again, “Enough!” One more kick. “Of you!” One last kick sent Khan spinning into a pile of debris.

Pike wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. Things inside him were broken, he could feel it; he would need medical attention soon. But he could still walk for the moment. He staggered toward the helm. Reliant was tearing herself apart. Before he could shut down the engines, Khan was back on his feet, he swung a piece of wreckage, but not at Pike; it hit the helm controls, smashing the interface.

Pike gave a quick look around the bridge. The devastation was severe. There wasn’t an intact console left that could issue the shutdown command, and he doubted he had time to reach auxiliary command.

“Grim death,” Khan said, wryly. He fell to the floor, at last too spent to continue the fight. “My son and foe. We die together, Christopher. As it must be.”

Pike looked to the viewscreen. He wasn’t even sure if Enterprise had survived. How much had this cost him, how many more deaths on his head?

Then he felt it. He turned back to meet Khan’s widening eyes. “Not, I think, today,” Pike said. “Enjoy your reign in hell.”

Kirk watched helplessly as Reliant’s saucer began to shear apart in the unstable warp field. Enterprise was closing the distance, but not fast enough. Then, suddenly, from out of nowhere, a modified Sombra-class ship appeared ahead of them. It traced out a hyperbolic arc toward Reliant. Just as the three ships reached syzygy, Reliant exploded. The Reno was sent spinning from the force of the explosion, and even Enterprise, farther out, was shaken. “Pavel!” Kirk shouted.

“I got him!” came the response from the Reno. “I got him! Keptin, Admiral Pike is aboard. We are ready to beam him over to you.”

Kirk slumped into the captain’s chair and sighed. “Mister Saavik, stand down red alert. And-”

There was another chirp from the intercom. Bones. “Jim, if Admiral Pike’s back aboard, you need to get him down to main engineering. Now.”