Aviophobia (Leonard McCoy)

16. Morally Wrong

Kate hurried after Jim and Spock.  She didn't quite feel right, running into an admiral's office as she wasn't actually part of Star Fleet Command, but she was with two Star Fleet officers.  She hoped that would be enough for Marcus to not question why she was present with them.

Never subtle, Jim didn't wait to be invited into Marcus's office.  He  entered on his own, interrupting a meeting that was already in progress.  Admiral Marcus commanded toward the people he was meeting with, "Triple security."

Not paying attention to whatever he might be interrupting, Jim stated confidently, "Admiral, sir, he's not on Earth.  He's on Kronos, sir.  I request my command be reinstated and your permission to go after him."

Kate could feel palpable tension in the room as Marcus turned toward Jim, Spock, and her.  He seemed to be considering what Jim said for a moment before turning to the people he had been meeting with and saying, "Give us a minute."

The other group stood and dismissed themselves, and Marcus waited for the room to empty before he asked, "Kronos?"

Kate stood back a little with Spock to observe what was happening as Jim replied, "Yes, sir."

Marcus shook his head and said in what sounded like a defeated tone, "So, Harrison's gone to the Klingon home world," then paused for a moment before asking, "Is he defecting?"

Jim seemed at a loss for a moment, but admitted, "Er, we're not sure, sir."

Spock seemed to sense Jim's discomfort and stepped up beside him and said, "He has taken refuge in the Ketha Province, a region uninhabited for decades."  Kate was surprised that Spock knew this much about Klingon space.  She suspected that he had done a little more research on the coordinates before just rushing in here uninformed as Jim had done.  She was grateful that Spock was here with Jim, otherwise he could have made a fool of himself.

 Jim seemed to regain his confidence and said, "He's got to be hiding there, sir!  He knows if we even go near Klingon space, it'd be all out war.  Star Fleet can't go after him, but I can.  Please, sir," his voice taking on a more pleading tone toward the end.  She was reminded of what Jim had said about wanting revenge and wanting Harrison dead last night and felt a pit form in her stomach.  Jim hadn't changed his mind on that yet.

Marcus shook his head as he said, "All out war with the Klingons is inevitable, Mister Kirk.  If you ask me, it's already begun.  Since we first learned of their existence, the Klingon Empire has conquered and occupied two planets that we know of and fired on our ships half a dozen times, not to mention what you and your crew dealt with.  They are coming our way," then looked between the three of them for a moment.

His eyes seemed to linger on Kate for a moment, which made her nervous, but he turned his attention back to Jim and continued, "London was not an archive.  It was a top-secret branch of Star Fleet designated Section 31.  They were developing defense technology and training our officers to gather intelligence on the Klingons and any other potential enemy who means to do us harm.  Harrison was one of our top agents."

The consequences of what Marcus was telling them could be devastating.  If Harrison had been working with the Klingons all along, he could have sabotaged so much that they knew about the Klingons or passed along information that should have been kept secret.

She didn't think about that long, as Jim continued his original train of thought and said, "Well, now he's a fugitive and I want to take him out."  Kate felt the pit form in her stomach again as Jim said those words.  Jim was not interested in capturing Harrison.  He was interested in killing him.

Marcus sighed and shook his head as he looked at Jim before saying, "Pike always said you were one of our best and brightest," then looked back to Kate and added, "Same with you," before turning back to Jim and saying, "You should have heard him defend you.  He was the one that talked you into joining Star Fleet, wasn't he?"