Gone | Jim Kirk | STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

You're the stupid one

Location: Enterprise Bridge

"Captain on the bridge." Sulu announces as Jim, Carolynn and Spock reach the bridge.

"ETA of the incoming ship." Jim say running inside.

"Three seconds, sir." Sulu reports as Jim takes his seat.

"Shields." Jim says

"Aye, Captain." Carolynn responds from her station.

A massive starship drops out of warp right in front of the Enterprise.

"Holy shit." Carolynn mutters under her breath.

"They're hailing us, sir." Uhura says.

"On screen. Broadcast shipwide, for the record." Jim says. Uncertainty clear in his voice.

The transmission comes in and Admiral Marcus's face appears on screen.

"Captain Kirk." Marcus greets.

Jim inhales and a small smile adorns his features. "Admiral Marcus. I wasn't expecting you. That's a hell of a ship you got there." He says.

"And I wasn't expecting to get word that you'd taken Harrison into custody in violation of your orders." Marcus says from the viewscreen.

"Well, we er, we had to improvise when our warp core unexpectedly malfunctioned. But you already knew that, didn't you, sir?" Jim sasses.

Carolynn's heart skips a beat.
'Has he lost his mind?! What the fuck is he saying!?' Carolynn thinks to herself.

"I don't take your meaning." Marcus says.

"Well, that's why you're here, isn't it? To assist with our repairs? Why else would the head of Starfleet personally come to the edge of the Neutral Zone?" Jim asks innocently.

'Smart bitch.' Carolyn thinks.

Carolynn hears a little beep from her pannel.

"Captain, they're scanning our ship." She reports.

"Is there something I can help you find, sir?" Jim asks with a straight face.

"Where is your prisoner, Kirk?" Marcus asks.

"Per Starfleet regulation, I'm planning on returning Khan to Earth to stand trial." Jim emphasizes on his name, indicating that he knew Khan's side of the story.

Marcus rubs his forehead and continues talking, "Well, shit. You talked to him. This is exactly what I was hoping to spare you from. I took a tactical risk and I woke that bastard up, believing that his superior intelligence could help us protect ourselves from whatever came at us next. But I made a mistake, and now the blood of everybody he's killed is on my hands. So I'm asking you, give him to me so that I can end what I started."

Jim stares at the man intently and says, "And what exactly would you like me to do with the rest of his crew, sir? Fire them at the Klingons? End seventy two lives? Start a war in the process?"

"He put those people in those torpedoes. And I simply didn't want to burden you with knowing what was inside of them. You saw what this man can do all by himself. Can you imagine what would happen if we woke up the rest of his crew?" Marcus raises his voice.

"What else did he tell you? That he's a peacekeeper? He's playing you, son, don't you see that?" Marcus calls him son making both Jim and Carolynn flinch internally. That's what Pike called him. The day he died.

"Khan and his crew were condemned to death as war criminals. And now it is our duty to carry out that sentence before anybody else dies because of him." Marcus says as Jim looks to his right. First at Spock and then at Carolynn. Unreadable expressions on both their faces.